\ 


BT  590  . E8  W3  1918 
Wareing,  Ernest  Clyde, 
The  evangelism  of  Jesus 


\ 


- 

1872- 


# 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/evangelisrnofjesu00ware_0 


THE  EVANGELISM 
OF  JESUS 


SIX  STUDIES  IN  THE  PERSONAL 
EVANGELISM  OF  OUR  LORD 

For  Bible  Students  and  Study  Classes 


/ 

ERNEST  CLYDE  WAREING 

Editor  Western  Christian  Advocate 


THE  ABINGDON  PRESS 
NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright,  1918,  by 
ERNEST  CLYDE  WAREING 


To  My  Mother 

WHO  TAUGHT  ME  AT  HER  KNEE 
THE  STORIES  OF  OUR  LORD  AND 
HIS  EARLY  DISCIPLES. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

Preface . . . . . . . . .  7 

I.  For  the  Devout  Soul . . .  1 1 

The  Mystical  Type . 14 

The  Spiritual  Approach .  15 

Differential  Evangelism . 16 

The  Conversion  of  Nathanael .  17 

Questions  for  Class  Study . 26 

II.  For  an  Inquiring  Soul . 29 

The  Formal  Type .  31 

The  Intellectual  Approach .  32 

Essential  Evangelism .  33 

The  Conversion  of  Nicodemus .  34 

Questions  for  Class  Study .  45 

III.  For  the  Sinful  Soul .  49 

The  Defective  Type .  53 

The  Moral  Approach .  54 

Initial  Evangelism .  54 

The  Conversion  of  the  Woman  of  Samaria .  56 

Questions  for  Class  Study .  65 

IV.  For  the  Importunate  Soul .  69 

The  Afflicted  Type .  71 

The  Physical  Approach .  72 

Collective  Evangelism .  73 

The  Conversion  of  Blind  Bartimseus .  74 

Questions  for  Class  Study .  83 

V.  For  the  Distressed  Soul .  87 

The  Radical  Type .  91 

The  Sympathetic  Approach .  92 

The  Evangelism  of  the  Cross .  93 

The  Repentant  Malefactor .  95 

Questions  for  Class  Study .  10 1 


6 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

VI.  For  the  Violent  Soul  .  105 

The  Fanatical  Type .  108 

The  Concealed  Approach . . .  109 

Elemental  Evangelism .  no 

The  Conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus .  in 

Questions  for  Class  Study .  119 

Bibliography . . .  12 1 


PREFACE 


This  little  volume  is  intended  for  the  use  of  earnest  people 
who  desire  to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  evangelistic 
teaching  of  our  Lord.  It  is  neither  a  scholarly  study  nor  an 
exhaustive  treatment  of  the  subject.  It  may  claim  to  be  a 
popular  presentation  of  the  fundamental  truths  which  form  the 
basis  of  the  work  of  making  Christian  disciples.  It  does 
not  deal  with  the  application  of  practical  methods.  These 
are  left  to  those  more  familiar  with  them  through  experience 
in  the  active  field  of  evangelism.  It  seeks  to  discuss  and 
elucidate  the  evangelism  of  Jesus  from  the  viewpoint  of  ex¬ 
perience.  It  asks  the  questions,  How  did  Jesus  approach  men? 
Did  he  always  use  the  same  means  of  presenting  truth?  What 
was  his  goal  in  dealing  with  the  souls  of  men?  As  a 
spiritual  leader,  in  what  respect  was  he  different  from  other 
religious  teachers?  What  is  the  distinctive  fact  in  Christian 
salvation  ?  It  seeks  to  discover  the  effects  of  the  influence  of 
Jesus  upon  the  souls  of  those  with  whom  he  had  to  deal.  In 
this,  it  avows,  is  revealed  the  revelation  of  God's  power  to 
transform  men  and  manifest  himself  to  them  in  a  new  way, 
producing  what  is  known  as  the  Christian  conception  of  God. 
In  each  instance  of  the  personal  evangelism  of  Jesus  there  is 
a  manifestation  not  only  of  duty  but  of  the  spiritual  capacity 
of  the  human  soul,  which  brings  a  revaluation  of  both  the 
divine  and  human  spirit  to  every  generation  of  men. 

The  evangelism  of  Jesus  was  always  that  of  personal  con¬ 
tact.  The  conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  seems  to  be  an  ex¬ 
ception.  However,  the  contrary  is  true.  It  resulted  in  his 
finding  the  invisible  and  glorified  Christ,  and  in  revealing 
the  evangelism  of  the  Holy  Spirit  who  functions  against 
opposing  forces  as  the  wind  gathers  strength  when  confined 
by  towering  walls.  Many  of  the  fundamental  questions  of 
religious  experience  appear  for  discussion  in  these  studies. 
They  will  receive  answers,  it  is  hoped,  that  will  not  only 
satisfy  the  mind  but  lend  enthusiasm  to  follow  Jesus  in  his 
interest  in  the  souls  of  men  as  they  grope  in  the  darkness, 

7 


8 


PREFACE 


feeling  their  way  toward  God  and  the  living  of  a  righteous 
life.  With  a  prayer  that  they  may  be  an  inspiration  to  many, 
these  studies  are  submitted  to  those  who  love  him  who 
has  bought  us  with  his  own  precious  blood,  and  taught  us 
the  way  of  life  through  the  ministry  of  his  Holy  Spirit. 


The  prominence  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  at  any  given 
time  will  depend  upon  the  thought  of  the  time.  It  is  not 
likely  to  be  at  the  front  when  the  living  controversies  of  the 
age  relate  to  theism  itself.  In  defending  the  reality  of  God 
against  materialism  and  agnosticism  few  will  discuss  the  inner 
mode  of  his  existence;  it  is  enough  to  maintain  his  per¬ 
sonality,  his  character,  and  his  relation  to  the  universe.  But 
this  does  not  disprove  the  truth  and  value  of  the  doctrine. 
It  may  even  be  vital  in  the  life  and  thought  of  a  period  when 
it  is  not  prominent  in  discussion.  At  the  present  day  there  is 
less  defense  and  less  proclamation  of  the  Trinity  than  at  many 
other  times,  but  the  doctrine  itself  is  more  vital  than  in  many 
periods  when  it  was  more  thoroughly  elaborated  and  defended. 
—W.  N.  Clark. 


CHAPTER  I 


For  the  Devout  Soul 

The  Mystical  Type 
The  Spiritual  Approach 
Differential  Evangelism 
The  Conversion  of  Nathanael 

Scripture:  John  i.  43-51 

The  day  following  Jesus  would  go  forth  into  Galilee,  and 
findeth  Philip,  and  saith  unto  him,  Follow  me. 

Now  Philip  was  of  Bethsaida,  the  city  of  Andrew  and  Peter. 

Philip  findeth  Nathanael,  and  saith  unto  him,  We  have 
found  him,  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the  prophets,  did 
write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph. 

And  Nathanael  said  unto  him,  Can  there  any  good  thing 
come  out  of  Nazareth?  Philip  saith  unto  him,  Come  and  see. 

Jesus  saw  Nathanael  coming  to  him,  and  saith  of  him, 
Behold  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  is  no  guile! 

Nathanael  saith  unto  him,  Whence  knowest  thou  me? 
Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Before  that  Philip  called 
thee,  when  thou  wast  under  the  fig  tree,  I  saw  thee. 

Nathanael  answered  and  saith  unto  him,  Rabbi,  thou  art 
the  Son  of  God;  thou  art  the  King  of  Israel. 

Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Because  I  said  unto  thee, 
I  saw  thee  under  the  fig  tree,  believest  thou?  Thou  shalt 
see  greater  things  than  these. 

And  he  saith  unto  him,  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you, 
Hereafter  ye  shall  see  heaven  open,  and  the  angels  of  God 
ascending  and  descending  upon  the  Son  of  man. 

Prayer 

We  pray,  O  Lord,  for  guidance  as  we  pursue  this  study  of 
thy  methods  in  dealing  with  the  souls  of  men.  Thou  canst 


11 


12 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


make  real  thy  world  of  spirit  and  quicken  our  perception  of 
it.  We  want  to  know  more  about  thee.  When  we  think  of 
thy  kindness  and  thy  tender  mercy  toward  us  our  hearts  are 
strangely  warmed.  What  can  we  do  to  please  thee  but  to  open 
them  for  thy  presence f  Reveal  to  us  the  secret  of  communion 
with  God  our  heavenly  Father.  Teach  us  how  to  trust  and 
exercise  our  spiritual  powers.  Save  us  from  being  sense - 
bound,  and  from  living  under  a  starless  sky,  from  the  com¬ 
pulsion  of  walking  in  darkness  when  thou  didst  come  to  show 
us  the  way  of  light.  Our  hearts  yearn  for  thee  to  teach  us  the 
difference  thou  canst  make  in  a  life  of  faith.  When  we  go 
apart  for  prayer  give  us  great  quiet.  Help  us  to  shut  out  the 
world  with  all  its  restlessness.  Help  us  as  we  linger  to 
think  only  of  thee,  to  release  our  emotions  and  feel  only  for 
thee.  Train  our  spirits  to  hear  thy  voice,  to  attend  unto  thy 
will,  and  to  trust  thee  as  always  loving  us,  regardless  of  our  ir¬ 
responsiveness,  and  even  our  sin.  What  more  could  we  ask 
of  thee,  when  thou  hast  provided  for  us  with  such  bountiful- 
nessf  We  feel  that  we  must  grow  from  more  to  more.  Wilt 
thou  then  give  us  enlargement  of  spirit,  quickness  of  per¬ 
ception,  and  assurance  of  thy  protection. 

We  have  ever  sought  the  zvay  of  devout  souls.  We  come 
to  study  it  as  those  who  search  for  hidden  riches.  We  have 
found  it  in  our  anticipations  filled  with  an  endless  interest 
that  deepens  with  the  years.  We  have  sought  to  enjoy  its 
blessing.  It  has  brought  to  us  prophecy  of  a  masterful  life, 
the  exhilaration  of  experiences  that  have  grown  eloquent  in 
their  appreciation  of  thy  wise  provision  for  all  who  love  thee. 
It  has  brought  us  days  when  doctrine  supported  our  life, 
and  faith  directed  our  course,  and  confession  lightened  our 
burden.  We  pray  that  our  path  may  always  lead  upward 
from  the  world  of  the  profane  and  the  godless.  For  there 
are  levels  of  life  where  faith  suffers  and  despair  plays  havoc 
with  the  soul.  Teach  us  the  difference  Christ  can  make  in 
our  lives.  Help  us  to  realize  his  power  of  enrichment  and  to 
see  the  beauty  and  grace  he  bestows  upon  those  who  hunger 
and  thirst  after  righteousness.  Bring  us  to  the  daily  confes¬ 
sion  of  him  as  our  Lord  and  our  God.  Amen. 

Introduction 

The  evangelistic  methods  of  our  Lord  were  always  deter- 


FOR  THE  DEVOUT  SOUL 


i3 


mined  by  the  character  of  the  one  with  whom  he  had  to  deal. 
He  had  no  systematized  plan  of  approach.  No  religious 
formula  or  established  precedent  was  followed  by  him. 
Every  man  presented  a  different  problem  and  required  a 
distinct  line  of  treatment.  His  evangelism,  therefore,  can¬ 
not  be  reduced  to  hard-and-fast  rules.  No  man  by  merely 
studying  his  teachings  and  following  his  dealings  with  men  can 
deduce  a  list  of  fundamental  principles  to  serve  as  a  guidebook 
for  his  evangelism.  In  all  his  sayings  there  is  but  one  sentence 
that  may  be  received  as  indispensable,  with  universal  applica¬ 
tion  as  an  evangelistic  principle :  “I  am  the  way,  the  truth, 
and  the  life:  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father,  but  by  me.” 
These  words  carry  an  elemental  truth.  No  matter  what 
methods  may  be  required  to  deal  with  any  specific  case,  this 
one  thing  is  strictly  fundamental,  the  evangelism  of  Jesus 
begins  with  Christ — “No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but 
by  me.”  Apart  from  this  claim  as  the  initiatory  step,  no 
extended  uniformity  can  be  traced  in  the  Master’s  dealing 
with  men  under  the  evangelistic  impulse.  However,  there 
are  many  varieties  of  men.  No  two  of  them,  it  is  claimed, 
are  alike.  Upon  close  analysis,  however,  they  readily  classify 
themselves  under  various  types.  In  this  field  we  find  the  ma¬ 
terial  for  the  study  of  the  evangelism  of  Jesus.  There  are 
always  individuals  who  possess  characteristics  peculiar  to  a 
group.  They  are  said  to  be  typical  members  of  that  group. 
Whatever  may  be  said  of  them  as  individuals,  may  also  be  said 
of  the  group.  Any  method  successfully  used  in  dealing  with 
them  may  be  reasonably  expected  to  apply  to  others  of  their 
kind. 

We  find  in  searching  the  teachings  and  life  of  Jesus  six  dif¬ 
ferent  incidents  in  which  he  deals  with  as  many  different 
types,  illustrating  the  methods  of  his  evangelism.  The  con¬ 
version  of  Nathanael  presents  the  mystical  type,  illustrating 
the  methods  of  differential  evangelism  by  the  way  of  a  spirit¬ 
ual  approach  for  the  devout  soul.  The  conversion  of  the 
woman  of  Samaria  presents  the  defective  type,  illustrating 
the  methods  of  initial  evangelism  by  the  way  of  a  moral 
approach  for  the  sinful  soul.  The  conversion  of  blind 
Bartimseus  presents  the  afflicted  type,  illustrating  the  methods 
of  collective  evangelism  by  the  way  of  a  physical  approach 
for  the  importunate  soul.  The  conversion  of  the  thief  on 
the  cross  presents  a  radical  type,  illustrating  the  methods  of 


14 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


the  evangelism  of  the  cross  by  the  way  of  a  sympathetic  b 
approach  for  a  distressed  soul.  The  conversion  of  Saul  of  c 
Tarsus  presents  a  fanatical  type,  illustrating  elemental  evan-  e 
gelism  by  the  way  of  a  concealed  approach  for  a  violent  soul  - 

s 

The  Mystical  Type 

The  character  of  Nathanael  illustrates  an  intense  spiritual  ; 
nature,  known  as  the  mystical  type.  It  has  a  way  of  perceiv-  | 
ing  God  that  makes  him  most  real.  It  has  also  more  than 
ordinary  power  to  open  the  receptive  functions  of  the  soul 
for  spiritual  impulses.  This  results  in  inward  illumination  and 
poise,  bringing  marvelous  and  almost  irresistible  influence  over 
the  impulses  that  control  the  body  in  which  the  spirit  of  man 
dwells.  It  presents  a  frequent  demonstration  that  man  is  a  soul, 
that  he  is  not  a  prisoner  in  his  brain  dome  with  no  avenues 
outward  but  those  of  the  five  physical  senses.  The  mystic  is 
an  individual  in  whom  the  intuitions  are  especially  free  and 
active.  He  early  learns  how  to  shut  out  the  world  in  the 
hour  of  meditation  and  prayer ;  how  to  rest  the  body,  quiet 
it  into  a  passive  state,  and  to  make  his  mind  active.  With 
all  spiritual  or  mental  functions  operative,  with  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  the  physical  reduced  to  its  lowest  level,  he  is  in 
that  position  where  God  may  speak  directly  to  his  soul,  when 
it  may  be  said  of  him,  “Flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it 
unto  thee,  but  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.”  In  the  mystical 
experience  comes  one  supreme  and  all-pervading  thought  of 
God  as  an  indwelling  Power,  and  the  consciousness  of  direct 
communion  with  him.  Indeed,  “God  ceases  to  be  an  object 
and  becomes  an  experience.”  A  thirst  for  him  is  created  that 
makes  all  the  functions  of  the  soul  yearn  for  him.  It  brings 
into  the  realm  of  reality,  through  experience,  Saint  John’s 
love-words,  “We  love  him  because  he  first  loved  us.”  It 
claims  to  know  him  without  intermediary  and  as  it  were  face 
to  face,  in  the  most  natural  way,  with  a  mental  approach  to 
him  through  love.  For  the  lover  cannot  bear  anything  be¬ 
tween  himself  and  his  beloved.  Furthermore,  it  furnishes  the 
soul  with  the  mystical  method  of  self-discipline,  to  be  used 
for  purgative  and  practical  ends,  and  to  be  trusted  as  the 
true  and  only  safe  approach  to  that  holy  life  so  ardently  de¬ 
sired,  and  without  which  no  man  can  see  God. 

It  is  verily  true  that  the  human  personality  is  intended  to 


FOR  THE  DEVOUT  SOUL 


15 


be  a  clear  mirror  of  God;  in  which  his  image  and  similitude 
can  always  be  seen.  Those  acquainted  with  the  mystical 
experience  realize  the  truth  of  Tennyson’s  words,  “closer  is 
He  than  breathing,  and  nearer  than  hands  and  feet.”  For  the 
soul  of  man  is  a  spiritual  universe  in  miniature,  in  which 
Christ  is  born  to  give  life  and  shed  light  abroad,  and  to  open 
the  way  to  God.  It  was  even  so  with  Nathanael,  the  mystic, 
as  we  shall  see.  He  was  waiting  the  coming  of  Him  whose 
presence  would  bring  life  and  make  glad  his  spirit  with  a  new 
faith  through  the  fulfillment  of  the  age-long  hope  of  a  devout 
Israelite. 

The  Spiritual  Approach 

The  spiritual  approach  is  one  of  a  number  of  ways  to  reach 
a  man’s  soul.  In  the  case  of  Nathanael  it  was  the  direct  route. 
By  prayer  and  meditation  he  kept  the  spiritual  highways  of 
his  life  open.  To  touch  any  one  of  them  meant  immediate 
welcome  into  the  inner  experiences  of  his  soul.  His  enlighten¬ 
ment  is  an  illustration  of  Christ’s  method.  He  knew  that  the 
same  approach  could  not  be  made  to  all  men.  What  would 
reach  one  would  fail  with  another.  Every  man  goes  across 
the  field  of  human  experience  his  own  way.  Hence  the  same 
gospel  message  will  not  reach  all  men.  Each  man  is  found 
for  Christ  when  a  gospel  truth  comes  home  to  him,  that  is, 
when  some  part  of  it  for  which  his  moral  and  spiritual  his¬ 
tory  has  prepared  him  falls  across  his  life.  The  man  living 
an  intemperate  life  is  not  moved  by  the  condemnation  of  the 
profane  or  the  gambler  or  of  the  murderer.  He  must  be  ap¬ 
proached  over  another  route.  In  other  words,  as  a  funda¬ 
mental  proposition  the  evangelism  of  Jesus  always  takes  into 
account  a  man’s  moral  and  spiritual  history.  Intuitively  he 
discovered  the  direct  approach  in  all  men  with  whom  he  came 
to  deal.  He  knew  that  every  man  should  hear  in  his  own 
tongue  the  wonderful  works  of  God ;  that  is,  the  tongue  he 
could  understand,  the  one  that  would  appeal  to  him,  that 
would  seem  most  wonderful  to  him.  Until  that  moment  ap¬ 
pears  the  gospel  seems  void  and  limited.  When  suddenly  some 
hitherto  unstruck  note  goes  flying  home  to  him  he  gives  atten¬ 
tion.  His  soul  leaps  into  action,  in  anticipation,  and  ready 
in  all  eagerness.  The  one  way  to  reach  his  soul  clears,  and 
the  word  of  truth  sheds  the  light  of  God  forth,  bringing 


i6 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


confession  and  acknowledgment.  The  sensitive  soul  of  Na¬ 
thanael  was  hidden  away  in  the  garden  of  mystical  com¬ 
munion.  No  new  light  could  reach  him  excepting  over  that 
spiritual  approach  toward  God,  and  the  fulfillment  of  his  faith. 

Differential  Evangelism 

Differential  evangelism  is  characterized  by  the  fact  that  it 
introduces  into  the  spiritual  life  a  new  dynamic  which  can¬ 
not  be  developed  by  the  soul  through  the  exercise  of  its  own 
powers.  In  this  form  are  to  be  found  the  chief  distinguishing 
features  of  the  work  of  Jesus  in  developing  the  spiritual  life. 
It  answers  to  that  need  of  the  human  spirit  for  frequent  re¬ 
leases  of  new  impulse  and  energy.  Christian  doctrine  and 
truth  have  power  to  maintain  the  soul  at  the  zenith  of  its 
capacities,  changing  the  emphasis,  making  a  difference  in 
coloring  and  emotion,  accentuating  distinctions,  and  producing 
an  endless  variety  of  truth  in  its  appeal  to  the  soul.  For 
this  there  is  a  threefold  demand : 

First.  Doctrine  and  truth  meditated  upon  for  any  length 
of  time  lose  their  power  to  produce  enthusiasm  for  moral 
initiative,  and  the  soul  settles  into  a  mechanical  life  in  which 
goodness  becomes  the  embodiment  of  a  ritual  and  the  ex¬ 
pression  of  a  habit. 

Second.  Christian  truths  go  into  eclipse  unless  they  are 
renewed  from  day  to  day  in  experience.  They  move  into 
the  shadow  of  those  less  worthy  of  consideration.  They  must 
be  constantly  supported  by  new  light  to  keep  them  fresh  and 
out  in  full  sight  above  our  intellectual  horizon. 

Third.  The  life  of  the  soul  has  a  tendency  to  reduce  itself, 
to  lose  its  abounding  enthusiasm  for  the  things  of  the  spirit. 
The  weight  of  the  physical,  the  handicap  of  the  passions  and 
appetites  of  the  flesh,  the  daily  toil  with  its  exhaustion,  tend 
to  restrict,  discourage,  and  subdue  the  abundant  expression 
of  the  spiritual  life.  Unless  an  evangelistic  emphasis  that 
seeks  to  make  a  difference  with  believers  is  introduced  at 
intervals,  the  life  of  the  spirit  is  reduced  to  the  lowest  level. 
If  there  is  offered  no  change  from  the  old  forms,  the  old 
types,  the  old  experiences,  the  old  threadbare  truths,  life 
becomes  a  wilderness  and  a  solitary  place.  If  at  times  a  man’s 
religion  cannot  make  a  difference  for  him  in  hope  and  faith 
and  heart,  he  is  lost. 


FOR  THE  DEVOUT  SOUL 


17 


The  Conversion  of  Nathanael 

Nathanael  is  an  illustration  of  a  devout  man  finding  new 
soul-impulse.  As  an  Old  Testament  believer  he  was  devoted 
to  all  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  the  Hebrew  religion. 
Indeed,  he  was  acquainted  with  the  history  of  Israel  and  the 
message  of  her  prophets.  To  him  the  Holy  Land  was  the 
dwelling  place  of  light.  Through  the  providence  of  God  he 
was  of  a  distinguished  and  peculiar  people.  The  past  may 
have  been  dark,  but  to  him  it  bore  the  marks  of  God’s  hand. 
The  future  was  altogether  bright.  It  carried  the  halo  of  his 
hopes.  Upon  the  hilltops  of  futurity  rested  his  cherished 
hope  of  the  coming  Messiah.  He  enjoyed  all  the  precious 
promises  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  that  lent  charm  and  en¬ 
chantment  to  the  spiritual  life.  He  was  a  devout  man,  living 
a  life  of  daily  communion  with  God.  He  had  realized  in 
experience  the  blessings  of  prayer.  He  had  his  hours  and  his 
place  of  religious  meditation,  and  had  become  a  circumspect 
and  upright  man.  He  was  an  Israelite  in  whom  there  was 
no  guile ;  that  is,  his  devotion  and  sincerity  had  so  influenced 
him  as  to  eliminate  the  family  trait  that  marked  his  fore¬ 
father  Jacob,  whose  guile  made  him  rich  in  cattle  and  flocks. 
But  Nathanael  had  found  in  his  worship  of  Jehovah  the 
spiritual  values  that  make  a  changed  man.  Among  a  people 
noted  for  the  cleverness  of  their  guile,  he  was  known  for  the 
beauty  of  his  guilelessness.  He  had  all  his  religion  could 
be  expected  to  furnish  him — the  power  and  satisfaction  of  an 
upright  life.  What  more  could  any  religion  do  for  him?  He 
had  found  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob.  Is  not  that 
the  purpose  of  the  highest  religion?  If  the  believer  has  been 
led  to  the  worship  of  the  true  and  only  God,  what  more  can 
be  done  for  him?  Could  anything  beyond  that  be  recognized 
as  highly  supplementary?  If  he  had  reached  the  altitudes, 
why  call  him  to  Jesus?  Can  Christ  do  more  for  a  man  than 
cleanse  him  from  guile?  This  faithful  man  had  climbed  to 
heights  of  personal  perfection  known  to  few  men.  Why  not 
permit  him  to  remain  under  the  fig  tree?  Why  not  permit  him 
to  meditate  under  his  own  skies?  Fig-tree  religion  is  not 
Christianity.  For  this  purpose  Christ  came  to  turn  meditation 
into  action,  the  vintage  of  the  vine  into  mercy,  and  the  fruit 
of  the  fig  tree  into  food  for  men.  Indeed,  Nathanael’s  guile¬ 
lessness  was  without  value  until  it  gained  currency  among  men. 


i8 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


A  Crisis  Came  into  Nathanael’s  Life  when  he  met  his 

friend  Philip,  who  with  enthusiasm  related  to  him  how  he 
had  “found  him,  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the  prophets, 
did  write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph.”  Being  a 
devout  man  and  acquainted  with  what  Moses  had  written 
in  the  law,  he  had  talked  frequently  with  his  friends  of  the 
Prophet  of  the  Lord  spoken  of  in  Deut.  18.  15:  “The  Lord 
thy  God  will  raise  up  unto  thee  a  Prophet  from  the  midst  of 
thee,  of  thy  brethren,  like  unto  me;  unto  him  ye  shall 
hearken” ;  and  that  other  interesting  passage,  Gen.  49.  10 : 
“The  scepter  shall  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver 
from  between  his  feet,  until  Shiloh  come ;  and  unto  him  shall 
the  gathering  of  the  people  be”;  and  that  other  highly 
prophetic  passage,  Num.  24.  17-20:  “I  shall  see  him,  but  not 
now :  I  shall  behold  him,  but  not  nigh :  there  shall  come  a  Star 
out  of  Jacob,  and  a  Scepter  shall  rise  out  of  Israel,  and 
shall  smite  the  corners  of  Moab,  and  destroy  all  the  children 
of  Sheth,  and  Edom  shall  be  a  possession,  Seir  also  shall  be  a 
possession  for  his  enemies ;  and  Israel  shall  do  valiantly. 
Out  of  Jacob  shall  come  he  that  shall  have  dominion,  and 
shall  destroy  him  that  remaineth  of  the  city.” 

With  these  passages  of  Scripture  in  memory,  and  being 
familiar  with  a  large  number  from  the  prophets,  he  held  in 
mind  a  portrait  of  the  promised  Messiah.  He  had  looked 
upon  that  face  in  adoration.  It  had  fixed  itself  in  all  its 
ineffable  beauty  in  his  thought  until  he  had  power  to  identify 
the  original  when  he  should  appear.  For  when  God  planned 
to  send  his  Son  into  the  world  he  had  but  one  means  of  mak¬ 
ing  him  known,  that  of  the  prophet’s  voice.  Through  this 
medium  a  portrait  was  drawn  possessing  coloring  and  lines 
different  from  those  found  in  the  picture  of  the  average  Jew, 
or  even  in  the  face  of  a  prophet.  Anyone  acquainted  with 
that  delineation  of  the  messengers  of  God  could  at  once, 
upon  seeing  the  Messiah  as  he  appeared  among  men,  say, 
“Rabbi,  thou  art  the  Son  of  God ;  thou  art  the  King  of 
Israel.” 

The  attitude  of  mind  of  Nathanael  is  worthy  considera¬ 
tion. 

First.  He  was  in  doubt  when  informed  by  Philip  that  he 
had  “found  him  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the  prophets, 
did  write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph.”  He  an¬ 
swered,  “Can  there  any  good  thing  come  out  of  Nazareth?” 


FOR  TH,E  DEVOUT  SOUL 


19 


He  was  a  man  of  candor.  Having  his  misgivings,  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  express  them.  He  felt  that  surely  the  Messiah 
would  not  come  from  a  village  unknown  and  unsung,  whose 
name  was  not  even  mentioned  by  the  prophets.  That  one 
fact  concerning  Jesus,  son  of  Joseph,  that  he  was  of  Nazareth, 
was  sufficient  to  discredit  him  in  the  mind  of  a  student  of 
prophecy. 

Second.  The  second  attitude  of  mind  was  a  slight  change 
toward  consideration.  Philip  did  not  argue.  He  replied, 
“Come  and  see.”  That  was  enough.  Permit  a  man  to  in¬ 
vestigate  for  himself  is  all  that  can  be  asked  by  doubt. 
Nathanael  committed  himself  to  the  personal  touch  of  Philip. 
He  had  found  One  who  had  delighted  his  soul.  He  must 
share  that  delight.  He  was  so  thoroughly  convinced  himself, 
he  felt  that  one  had  but  to  see  to  agree  with  him.  Nathanael 
was  influenced  by  Philip’s  confidence.  Having  an  open  mind 
he  was  ready  to  sympathetically  consider  all  the  facts.  He 
was  preparing  to  observe  and  consider  all  he  saw.  He  had 
inwardly  prepared  himself  by  reviewing  his  mental  picture 
of  the  Messiah.  With  a  steadfast  resolution  not  to  be  de¬ 
ceived,  he  accompanied  his  friend  to  see  the  Man  of  Nazareth. 

Scarcely  had  he  reached  the  circle  of  the  influence  of  Jesus 
than  he  heard  the  Man  address  him,  “Behold  an  Israelite  - 
indeed,  in  whom  is  no  guile !”  That  was  a  remarkable 
characterization.  It  revealed  the  fact  that  he  was  one  who 
answered  to  the  name  which  marked  the  spiritual  privilege 
of  the  chosen  people  and  connected  him  with  that  wonderful 
victory  of  faith  that  transformed  Jacob,  the  wrestler  and 
supplanter,  into  Israel,  a  prince  of  God.  Nathanael  had  small 
time  to  observe.  He  was  caught  up  by  the  amazing  insight 
of  the  Man.  He  could  only  ask  for  information,  “Whence 
knowest  thou  me?”  He  had  gone  forth  to  discover  the  Christ 
and  to  ask  many  questions.  He  met  himself  and  looked  upon 
his  own  character.  It  was  altogether  likable,  but  the  fact 
was,  instead  of  having  his  mind  filled  with  the  claims  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  when  he  met  him,  it  was  thrust  full  of 
what  his  own  life  of  devotion  and  meditation  under  his  own 
vine  and  fig  tree  had  made  of  him.  That  was  more  than 
passing  strange.  “Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Before 
that  Philip  called  thee,  when  thou  wast  under  the  fig  tree, 

I  saw  thee.”  This  one  fact  was  overwhelming.  His  own 
heart  had  been  revealed  to  him  and  he  had  been  connected 


20 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


with  the  promises  of  Israel.  It  was  not  that  Jesus  saw  him 
afar  off,  when  he  was  in  the  secret  and  quiet  of  his  own  life, 
but  the  fact  that  he  was  able  instantly  to  uncover  his  entire 
life,  and  the  goal  of  all  his  soul  struggles.  He  saw  himself 
under  the  touch  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph,  and 
cried  out,  “Rabbi,  thou  art  the  Son  of  God ;  thou  art  the 
King  of  Israel.”  He  witnessed  the  great  confession  without 
going  the  way  of  reason.  He  was  convinced  by  a  flash  of 
the  intuitions,  and  passed  at  once  into  confidence  and  unalter¬ 
able  assurance  that  “Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  the  Son  of  God.” 
But  the  process  goes  one  step  farther.  He  is  confirmed  by 
these  words :  “Because  I  said  unto  thee,  I  saw  thee  under 
the  fig  tree,  believest  thou?  Thou  shalt  see  greater  things 
than  these.”  Then,  as  with  an  effort  to  fill  out  the  full 
capacity  of  his  faith,  Jesus  said  with  unusual  emphasis: 
“Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  hereafter  ye  shall  see  heaven 
open,  and  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending  upon 
the  Son  of  man.” 

Nathanael  had  met  Jesus  of  Nazareth  and  had  come  into  a 
threefold  experience  of  reality. 

First.  The  reality  of  a  dynamic  in  man  which  assured  the 
prevailing  power  of  prayer.  His  supplications  and  meditations 
had  not  fallen  to  the  earth  unnoticed.  This  One,  like  unto 
the  Son  of  God,  had  taken  into  account  his  devotions  under 
the  fig  tree. 

Second.  The  reality  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  the  Son  of 
God,  who  by  the  power  of  spirit  could  gather  up  the  past, 
appraise  it  as  of  superior  value,  and  discern  the  action  of 
men’s  lives  regardless  of  distance  and  time. 

Third.  The  reality  of  a  spiritual  world  connected  with  this 
material  world,  and  between  which  forces  and  beings  that 
express  and  obey  the  will  of  God  pass  to  and  fro — “Ye  shall 
see  .  .  .  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending  upon 
the  Son  of  man.” 

In  reality,  he  had  a  vision  of  God,  different  from  any  he 
had  ever  enjoyed.  He  believed  in  a  Deity,  as  his  fathers 
had,  who  lived  in  the  past  and  wrought  wonders  in  the  days 
of  his  nation’s  history.  Who  he  was  and  how  he  should  think 
of  him  was  a  mystery.  He  had  called  him  Lord,  Jehovah, 
Elohim.  Now  he  begins  to  think  of  him  in  terms  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth.  God,  an  invisible  Spirit,  was  real.  He  could 
express  himself  in  a  Son.  He  must  therefore  be  a  Father, 


FOR  THE  DEVOUT  SOUL 


21 


capable  of  expressing  himself  in  emotional  power,  and  direct¬ 
ing  his  energies  by  intellectual  power,  and  executing  his  pur¬ 
pose  by  volitional  power. 

The  Implications  of  Nathanael’s  Confession,  “Rabbi,  thou 
art  the  Son  of  God ;  thou  art  the  King  of  Israel,”  contain 
the  profound  teaching  of  this  incident.  To  accept  a  Deity 
capable  of  expressing  himself  in  a  Son  means  the  acknowl¬ 
edging  by  faith  of  a  personal  God.  If  man  understands  the 
psychology  of  personality,  he  will  readily  see  that  upon  its 
implications  is  founded  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 
If  a  man  accepts  faith  in  a  personal  Deity,  he  must  interpret 
that  faith  in  the  terms  of  a  Triune  God. 

Our  first  course  toward  the  understanding  of  the  doctrine 
implied  in  this  confession  is  the  acceptance  of  the  fact  that 
there  is  in  all  men  a  sense  of  God.  It  is  a  faculty  for  the  un¬ 
seen.  It  may  be  called  the  sixth  sense.  As  the  eye  was  made 
for  light,  the  ear  for  sound,  so  the  spiritual  sense  was  made 
for  God.  In  heathen  religions  that  sense  was  permitted  to 
run  without  restraint.  It  flew  hither  and  yon,  deifying  all 
mystery,  and  wonder  of  hill  and  mountain,  valley  and  plain, 
storm  and  summer  rain.  It  was  concentrated  upon  no  definite, 
specific  object  for  any  length  of  time.  It  was  in  constant 
action  and  suffered  no  possibility  of  atrophy,  but  failed  to 
gain  by  fixedness  and  control  any  great  impulse  for  growth 
and  development. 

In  the  Jewish,  Mohammedan,  Christian,  and  other  mono¬ 
theistic  religions  the  spiritual  sense  is  controlled.  It  is  not 
permitted  to  fly  everywhere,  but  is  confined  and  focused  on 
one  God.  Concentration  has  its  perils,  for  it  produces  sense- 
weariness  and  failure  to  respond  in  appreciation,  as  the  eye 
concentrated  upon  an  object  of  beauty  wearies  or  the  ear  fails 
to  hear  a  sweet  sound  unless  frequently  released  for  momen¬ 
tary  rest.  In  this  age,  when  monotheism  is  prevailing  more  and 
more,  the  human  sense  of  God,  because  controlled,  confined, 
and  focused  upon  a  one  and  only  Deity,  wearies.  Being 
commanded  by  the  proclamation  that  the  world  has  come  to 
a  place  where  it  must  accept  the  God  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  or  have  none  at  all,  in  many  instances  it  refuses  to 
function  and  settles  into  a  state  of  inactivity  that  is  worse  than 
paganism.  It  is  far  better  to  be  a  heathen,  and  exercise  the 
spiritual  sense  in  deifying  all  about  you,  than  to  live  in  an 


22 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


age  of  one  God  and  refuse  to  recognize  him,  for  in  so  doing 
the  loss  of  the  finest  human  faculty  will  be  life’s  greatest 
regret. 

The  second  implication  of  Nathanael’s  confession  is  that 
a  man  may  worship  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob 
and  not  be  a  Christian.  He  may  be  a  Jew.  He  may  be  a 
Mohammedan.  He  may  be  a  deist  or  a  theist,  refusing  to  be 
classed  among  atheists,  and  still  not  be  a  Christian.  If  this 
distinction  could  be  driven  as  a  cleavage  into  every  man’s 
life,  all  would  come  to  see  that  to  be  a  Christian  means  far 
more  than  accepting  the  God  of  the  Old  Testament.  The 
Christian  conception  of  God  is  altogether  unique  and  distinc¬ 
tive. 

This  point  is  to  be  emphasized ;  for  many  members  of  our 
churches,  because  they  do  not  realize  this,  are  getting  no  more 
out  of  their  religion  than  if  they  were  Jews.  Belief  in  God 
does  not  make  a  Christian.  A  man  thus  believing  may  be 
religious,  he  may  be  devout,  but  he  may  not  be  a  Christian. 
What,  then,  is  the  distinctive  form  of  faith  that  makes  a 
Christian  ? 

The  third  implication  of  Nathanael’s  confession  is  faith 
in  a  personal  God  who  is  seeking  to  express  his  feeling  toward 
men.  Christ  was  the  embodiment  of  that  feeling.  When 
Christ  is  understood  in  the  light  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa¬ 
ment  teaching,  one  doctrine  is  found  as  fundamental  and 
essential,  distinguishing  Christianity  from  all  other  religions. 
That  doctrine  is  the  Trinity.  It  has  four  well-defined  lines 
of  support : 

First,  that  of  the  Scripture.  All  passages  teaching  the  Son- 
ship  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  those  presenting  the  office  and 
personality  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  support  it,  and  have  no  sound 
interpretation  without  its  acceptance. 

Second.  Christian  experience  emphatically  bears  witness 
to  a  divine  Father,  a  divine  Saviour,  and  a  divine  Renewer. 
It  knows  nothing  of  three  Gods,  but  asserts  that  these  are 
one.  A  practical  understanding  of  the  Trinity,  which  cheered 
the  hearts  of  early  believers,  still  illumines  and  supports 
Christian  experience. 

Third.  Historic  Christianity  supports  the  Trinitarian  faith. 
All  through  the  centuries  the  growth  of  the  church  has  been 
through  the  line  of  those  who  accepted  faith  in  a  Triune 
God.  The  Unitarian  branch  of  Christianity  has  had  no  great 


FOR  THE  DEVOUT  SOUL 


23 


missionary  impulse.  World  conquest  has  been  led  by  those 
inspired  by  a  faith  in  the  deity  of  Christ  and  the  personality 
of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Fourth.  Modern  psychology  supports  it.  Belief  in  a  per¬ 
sonal  God  demands  that  personality  shall  reveal  itself.  Psy¬ 
chology  teaches  that  personality  is  constantly  seeking  to  ex¬ 
press  itself,  but  is  confined  to  three  methods :  that  of  thought, 
that  of  emotion,  that  of  volition.  In  other  words,  personality 
is  dependent  for  manifestation  upon  intellect,  sensibility,  and 
will.  These  prove  to  be  the  great  avenues  over  which  it  goes 
into  action.  Furthermore,  psychology  furnishes  a  support 
to  this  doctrine  from  its  interpretation  of  religious  experi¬ 
ence.  It  claims  that  man  can  know  a  personal  God  only  upon 
the  basis  of  a  trinitarian  conception ;  that  only  a  Deity  mani¬ 
festing  himself  through  intellect,  sensibility  and  will  can  be 
understood  by  a  creature  endowed  by  these  same  faculties  to 
express  his  own  personality. 

A  Trinity  Based  upon  Personality  must  be  one  of  mani¬ 
festation.  It  must  be  distinguished  from  tritheism,  that  would 
mean  three  persons  and  indicate  a  type  of  polytheism.  A 
trinity  of  manifestation  on  the  part  of  a  personal  God  is  a 
fundamental  necessity.  For  Deity  to  be  personal  he  must 
manifest  himself  in  three  ways :  first,  as  a  being  with 
capacity  to  think ;  second,  as  a  being  with  capacity  to  feel ; 
third,  as  a  being  with  capacity  to  will.  Without  these  func¬ 
tions  for  self-expression  on  the  part  of  any  being,  we  are 
unable  to  think  of  him  as  personal.  The  Christian  concep¬ 
tion  of  God  is  that  of  a  Trinity  of  manifestation. 

What  do  we  mean  by  a  personal  God?  This  requires  a 
definition  of  personality.  In  these  days,  when  Oriental  mysti¬ 
cism  and  doctrines  of  an  impersonal  God  are  prevalent,  and 
when  men  bearing  the  name  of  Christian,  by  failure  to  think 
clearly,  are  calling  God  a  principle,  we  must  make  a  positive 
statement  that  will  not  fail  to  carry  the  Christian  content. 

Let  us  further  define  ourselves.  By  personality  we  do  not 
mean  corporeality.  That  would  identify  God  with  a  body. 
Even  the  personality  of  man  is  not  dependent  upon  his  body. 
By  personality  we  mean  two  things :  first,  self-consciousness ; 
second,  self-determination.  By  self-consciousness  I  am  aware 
that  I  am  not  the  person  present  with  me.  I  have  a  feeling 
of  separateness,  of  individuality,  of  distinctiveness,  that  I  am 


24 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


here  and  he  is  there.  It  is  even  so  with  the  body  in  which  I 
live.  I  am  conscious  that  it  is  not  I ;  that  it  is  my  dwelling 
place ;  the  arm  is  not  I,  it  is  mine.  This  is  the  personal 
realization  of  self-consciousness.  By  self-determination  I  am 
conscious  of  my  independence  of  the  man  I  see  near.  When 
I  act  I  know  it  is  not  he  acting,  but  the  result  of  my  own 
will.  I  know  that  he  does  not  control  me.  I  go  my  way  at 
my  will.  I  am  not  a  part  of  him,  going  here  and  there  at  his 
behest.  I  have  power  of  self-determination.  I  am  responsible 
for  my  own  action,  even  to  the  movement  of  a  hand  or  foot. 
They  are  the  instruments  of  my  will  and  are  not  responsible 
for  what  they  do.  I  am  a  self-conscious  and  self-determina¬ 
tive  being,  living  in  a  body  which  moves  at  my  will,  among 
other,  human  creatures  possessing  the  same  powers  as  my¬ 
self. 

Christians  believe  in  a  personal  God  who  has  a  self-con¬ 
scious  existence  apart  from  his  creations,  and  who  does  not 
secrete,  absorb  or  sustain  them  as  a  part  of  himself. 

Man  Is  a  Triune  Being.  He  Also  Is  a  Personality.  He 

cannot  give  full  expression  to  himself  through  any  one 
channel.  He  is  confined  to  a  trinity  of  manifestation.  He 
can  express  himself  in  any  one  of  three  ways — intellect, 
sensibilities,  and  will.  These  constitute  the  field  of  human 
experience.  If  God  is  to  make  himself  conscious  to  the  human 
personality,  he  must  approach  him  through  one  of  these 
avenues.  It  is  interesting  as  well  as  confirmatory  that  the 
doctrine  of  a  Triune  God  perfectly  conforms  to  that  of  a 
triune  man. 

God  the  Father  is  God  the  Thinker,  and  articulates  with 
the  intellect  of  man.  That  conception  of  God  appeals  to  man’s 
thought.  Fatherhood  means  responsibility  and  control.  It 
means  obligation  and  sacrifice.  It  involves  the  existence  of 
a  moral  universe  and  laws  for  its  support.  Indeed,  it  carries 
all  the  great  thoughts  man  is  capable  of  entertaining. 

God  the  Son  is  the  expressed  feeling  of  God,  and  articulates 
with  the  sensibilities  of  man.  He  is  the  manifestation  of  love. 
He  was  begotten  in  affection.  “God  so  loved  the  world  that 
he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son.”  That  appeals  to  man’s 
sensibilities.  God  the  Son  means  mercy  and  concern,  feeling 
and  anxiety,  sacrifice  and  suffering  on  the  part  of  God. 
These  open  a  path  into  the  wide  field  of  human  sensibilities. 


FOR  THE  DEVOUT  SOUL 


25 


He  could  not  reach  man’s  great  emotional  life  through  the 
avenue  of  intellect  by  the  conception  of  fatherhood  alone. 

God  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  expression  of  the  purpose  of 
God,  and  articulates  with  the  will  of  man.  The  Holy  Spirit 
is  the  power  of  God  sent  to  execute  his  will,  to  cleanse  his 
temple,  to  reveal  his  Son,  to  make  known  his  truth,  to  endue 
with  power,  to  make  his  paths  straight,  to  tear  down  king¬ 
doms  and  build  up  empires,  to  declare  the  acceptable  year 
of  the  Lord.  What  man  is  in  will,  so  is  God  in  and  through 
the  Holy  Spirit.  At  this  point  humanity  and  Deity  may  meet 
in  wonderful  realization  of  each  other. 

On  this  conclusion  rests  the  real  and  inviolable  truth  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  It  finds  its  validity  in  experience.  It 
saves  man’s  spiritual  sense  from  weariness.  While  it  is  con¬ 
fined  to  the  consideration  of  one  God,  it  may  vary  its  interest 
from  God  the  Father  to  God  the  Son  and  to  God  the  Holy 
Ghost.  By  this  process  in  experience  it  may  renew  and 
refresh  itself,  never  fainting,  never  wearying  through  the 
years  of  a  long  life.  Furthermore,  it  may  be  stated  that  a 
believer  never  comes  into  the  full  experience  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian’s  God  until  he  comes  to  know  not  only  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  but  also  the  Holy  Spirit.  God  cannot  be  known 
fully  in  experience  by  appeal  to  man’s  intellect  through 
fatherhood.  He  is  more  than  intellect,  more  than  father.  He 
cannot  be  known  fully  by  an  experience  of  Jesus  Christ,  his 
Son,  appealing  to  man’s  sensibilities  and  entering  the  field  of 
his  emotional  nature.  God  is  more  than  Son,  as  man  is  more 
than  sensibilities.  Not  until  the  avenue  of  will  through  which 
man  expresses  himself  in  the  highest  ranges  of  his  personality 
is  approached  by  the  unction  of  the  Holy  Spirit  expressing 
the  will  and  determination  of  God  does  a  believer  come  into 
the  fullness  of  the  blessing  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

So  important  did  Christ  consider  this  for  religious  experi¬ 
ence  that  he  made  repeated  reference  to  the  work  and 
authority  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  rested  the  future  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  upon  him.  He  exalted  the  promise  of 
his  personal  presence  in  the  life  of  every  believer.  He  made 
relationship  to  him  the  most  sensitive  point  in  the  spiritual 
experience  by  asserting  that  sin  against  him  could  never  be 
forgiven,  enforcing  the  thought  that  he  who  neglects  the 
Third  Person  of  the  Trinity,  never  mentioning  him,  never 
thinking  of  him,  never  recommending  him,  but  satisfying 


26 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


himself  with  the  thought  of  God,  will  have  little  more  in 
experience  than  the  highest  type  of  Moslem  or  Jew.  To  re¬ 
ject  or  neglect  the  Third  Person  of  the  Trinity,  as  some 
Christians  are  strangely  prone  to  do,  is  a  sin  of  equal 
magnitude  with  that  of  the  Jews,  who  rejected  Christ  mani¬ 
fest  in  the  flesh.  The  full  circle  of  the  Christian  conception 
of  God  must  be  experienced  if  there  is  to  be  power  and  life 
resulting  in  the  evangelistic  impulse. 

It  was  a  differential  evangelism  that  sent  Philip  out  that 
day  in  search  for  Nathanael.  He  had  experienced  a  change 
himself.  Personal  knowledge  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  had  made 
him  different.  He  had  faith  that  the  same  would  bring  delight 
to  his  friend  Nathanael.  So  it  proved — the  man  of  the  fig 
tree  was  convinced.  His  emotions  and  sensibilities  were  cap¬ 
tured  and  released  in  a  new  world  of  faith  and  hope ;  and 
thus  learning  the  Christian  conception  of  God,  he  went  forth 
with  those  who  had  with  him  found  the  truth,  preaching  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  CLASS  STUDY 

1.  What  method  of  approach  have  we  to  a  study  of  the 
Evangelism  of  Jesus? 

2.  Name  the  six  types  to  be  studied. 

3.  What  is  a  mystical  type? 

4.  What  is  the  mystical  experience? 

5.  What  is  a  spiritual  approach? 

6.  What  is  meant  by  differential  evangelism? 

7.  Was  Nathanael  a  religious  man?  Characterize  him. 

8.  What  did  Nathanael  find  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth? 

9.  What  was  Nathanael’s  threefold  experience  of  reality? 

10.  What  do  we  mean  by  personality? 

11.  What  do  we  mean  by  a  personal  God? 

12.  In  what  three  ways  may  a  personal  God  express  himself? 

13.  What  do  we  mean  by  Trinity? 

14.  Is  man  a  triune  being? 

15.  How  may  man  know  a  personal  God? 


There  is  a  distinction  which  has  almost  passed  into  the 
language  of  those  who  discuss  the  soul,  and  which  was 
adopted  by  William  James  from  Francis  Newman — I  mean 
the  distinction  between  the  once  born  and  the  twice  born. 
There  are,  indeed,  three  classes — the  unborn,  in  whom  the 
soul  has  never  broken  through  the  life  of  nature  at  all ;  the 
once  born,  in  whom  it  has  emerged  as  the  upper  story  of 
nature,  with  the  skylights  turned  to  the  sun;  and  the  twice 
born,  in  whom  it  has  not  only  emerged  but,  by  a  crisis,  swift 
or  slow,  grace  has  gone  to  the  center  of  the  personality, 
and  sat  down  on  its  throne  making  all  things  new.  Let  us 
keep  for  our  purpose  to  the  other  two  sorts — the  natural 
man  spiritualized  and  the  natural  man  reborn.  Do  the  twice 
born  form  but  the  upper  story  of  the  once  born,  as  these 
did  of  the  natural  man?  There  is  certainly  a  difference — is 
it  material,  or  is  it  a  mere  matter  of  degree?  Is  it  a  real 
and  serious  distinction  between  the  once  born,  who,  cherish¬ 
ing  in  relation  to  Christ  a  sincere  but  nonmiraculous  and 
indecisive  experience  (swift  or  slow,)  are  content  with  an 
experience  only  sensitive  and  responsive  to  the  spiritual  values 
preeminent  in  Him — is  there  a  real  difference  between  them 
and  the  twice  born,  with  an  inner  light  which  is  a  power 
much  more  than  a  light,  a  control  more  than  a  radiance,  and 
a  conversion  which  is  more  than  a  change — which  is  a  re¬ 
birth?  Is  the  difference  real  between  those  who  feel  but  the 
impressiveness  of  Christ  and  those  who  own  his  regeneration? 
If  the  difference  is  very  real,  on  which  does  the  church  and 
its  welfare  rest?  Allowing  that  some  individuals  could  not 
easily  class  themselves,  which  would  they  say  was  the  note 
and  life  of  a  New  Testament  Church? — P.  T.  Forsythe. 


CHAPTER  II 


For  an  Inquiring  Soul 

The  Formal  Type 

The  Intellectual  Approach 

Essential  Evangelism 

The  Conversion  of  Nicodemus 

Scripture:  John  3.  1-13 

There  was  a  man  of  the  Pharisees,  named  Nicodemus,  a 
ruler  of  the  Jews: 

The  same  came  to  Jesus  by  night,  and  said  unto  him,  Rabbi, 
we  know  that  thou  art  a  teacher  come  from  God :  for  no  man 
can  do  these  miracles  that  thou  doest,  except  God  be  with 
him. 

Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Verily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God. 

Nicodemus  saith  unto  him,  How  can  a  man  be  born  when 
he  is  old?  can  he  enter  the  second  time  into  his  mother’s 
womb,  and  be  born? 

Jesus  answered,  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  Except  a 
man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh ;  and  that  which  is 
born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit. 

Marvel  not  that  I  said  unto  thee,  Ye  must  be  born  again. 

The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the 
sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh,  and 
whither  it  goeth :  so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit. 

Nicodemus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  How  can  these 
things  be? 

Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Art  thou  a  master  of 
Israel,  and  knowest  not  these  things? 

Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  We  speak  that  we  do  know, 
and  testify  that  we  have  seen;  and  ye  receive  not  our  witness. 

20 


30 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


If  I  have  told  you  earthly  things,  and  ye  believe  not,  how 
shall  ye  believe,  if  I  tell  you  of  heavenly  things? 

And  no  man  hath  ascended  up  to  heaven,  but  he  that  came 
down  from  heaven,  even  the  Son  of  man  which  is  in  heaven. 

Prayer 

Our  blessed  Lord,  we  would  not  forget  thy  presence.  Thou 
hast  promised  to  be  with  us  in  all  our  undertakings.  We 
would  not  neglect  by  failing  to  turn  our  hearts  to  thee  at 
the  beginning  of  this  hour  of  study.  Give  us  power  of  mental 
application.  Furnish  us  with  a  motive  that  will  make  us 
delight  ourselves  in  learning  more  about  thee.  We  are  not 
as  those  without  love  for  the  high  things  of  life.  We  have 
a  hunger  for  that  which  the  world  cannot  give.  We  know 
thou  hast  provided  for  our  love  by  the  beauty  in  the  faces 
of  our  friends,  by  the  color  of  the  summer  sky,  and  the 
mystery  of  vale  and  mountain.  But  these  cannot  satisfy  our 
souls.  We  want  to  be  more  like  thee.  We  know  thou  hast 
provided  for  our  need  of  pleasurable  sounds  by  the  harmonies 
of  sweet  songs  and  the  voices  of  those  we  love.  But  these 
cannot  always  bring  us  gratification.  We  must  hear  thy 
voice,  or  be  as  those  who  walk  alone,  lamenting  the  absence 
of  a  choice  companion. 

Help  us  to  discover  in  this  lesson  our  true  relation  to 
thee.  We  pray  to  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  sin.  We 
yearn  to  have  the  full  heritage  of  the  sons  of  God.  Help  us 
not  to  trust  in  that  which  is  natural,  but  to  seek  always  that 
which  is  spiritual.  Being  born  from  above,  by  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord,  we  know  that  old  things  have  passed  away 
and  all  things  have  become  new.  Our  joy  is  that  of  those 
who  love  thee.  Our  peace  and  assurance  are  of  those  who 
seek  thee  in  the  morning,  walk  with  thee  during  the  day,  and 
rejoice  in  thy  blessed  fellowship  in  the  evening.  Teach  us 
to  live  as  be cometh  those  who  bear  thy  name.  May  we  find 
in  this  hour  the  dwelling  place  of  light,  through  Jesus  Christ. 
Amen. 

Introduction 

The  evangelism  of  Jesus  for  an  inquiring  soul  is  illustrated 
in  the  conversion  of  Nicodemus,  a  man  of  the  Pharisees  and 


FOR  AN  INQUIRING  SOUL 


3i 


a  ruler  of  the  Jews.  He  was  of  a  particular  group,  known  as 
the  formal  type,  who  must  always  be  approached  by  the  way 
of  the  intellect.  It  requires  the  application  of  those  essential 
truths  without  which  a  man  cannot  know  the  God  of  Jesus 
Christ,  neither  live  the  spiritual  life  he  came  to  reveal. 

Many  men  come  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  truth  through 
intellectual  struggle.  Doubts  by  a  strange  process  obstruct 
the  way  of  access  to  the  mind.  All  such  men  come  slowly 
to  the  light.  They  wrestle  and  suffer.  They  grope  and 
agonize.  They  thirst  and  cry  out  for  the  truth  that  will 
satisfy  them.  But  the  man  who  comes  in  the  darkness  of 
doubt  to  obtain  the  light  is  always  abundantly  rewarded.  For 
to  doubt  is  not  sinful.  It  is  a  state  of  mind  that  when  based 
upon  a  sincere  desire  to  acquire  knowledge  is  commended  of 
God.  When  it  is  permitted  to  become  chronic,  refusing  to 
accept  the  truth  when  presented,  it  is  reprehensible.  When 
it  is  made  an  artifice  to  conceal  a  sin  that  the  heart  has  come 
to  love  it  is  to  be  feared  as  an  enemy  of  the  soul.  The  in¬ 
quiring  mind,  out  in  the  world  in  search  of  the  great  facts 
of  life  and  human  destiny,  always  commands  the  respect  of 
Christ.  If  it  is  led  by  doubt  in  the  dark,  the  lamp  it  uses 
will  always  be  held  by  the  hand  of  faith  which  ever  assures 
that  truth  can  be  found,  though  the  night  is  on ;  therefore, 
faint  not  in  the  pursuit.  Jesus  finds  a  way  to  the  inquiring 
soul,  over  the  path  of  personal  responsibility.  He  directs  the 
truth  of  the  spirit  past  a  man’s  defenses,  past  his  pretenses  to 
the  citadel  of  his  soul.  He  knows  that  the  human  intuitions 
have  power  to  accredit  truth,  capture  doubt  and  satisfy  the 
heart.  He  meets  the  ruler  of  the  Jews  with  confidence  that 
he  can  help  him. 

The  Formal  Type 

Nicodemus  was  of  the  formal  type,  which  relies  on  birth 
and  good  breeding,  on  art  and  education,  sacraments  and 
rituals,  as  sources  of  moral  and  spiritual  progress.  Men  of 
this  type  trust  in  nature  and  the  processes  of  culture  to  which 
they  may  be  subjected,  to  bring  those  highly  capacitated  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  They  believe  that  humanity  in  its 
upper  ranges  will  inevitably  find  its  way  to  God.  They  claim 
that  the  soul  needs  but  the  external  stimulant  to  bring  it 
forth  into  the  full  exercise  of  its  powers ;  that  an  improved 


32 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


social  arrangement,  a  higher  environment,  are  alone  necessary 
to  elevate  the  race,  and  bring  it  to  its  full  spiritual  capacity. 
Within  their  limits  these  forces  are  invaluable.  However, 
when  they  have  done  their  utmost,  they  leave  man  inwardly 
unchanged.  To  rest  human  salvation  on  self-improvement 
and  social  reform  is  nothing  more  than  depending  upon  the 
laws  of  this  natural  world  to  redeem  sin-crushed  and  cursed 
humanity. 

The  formal  type  seeks  the  way  to  God  through  intellect, 
reason  laboriously  reaching  through  the  darkness ;  always 
coming  by  night,  never  standing  in  the  open  path,  never  get¬ 
ting  any  farther  than  the  twilight  zone  of  ritualistic  forms 
and  ceremonies.  It  would  satisfy  itself  with  generation,  and 
measure  its  highest  product  by  a  scale  of  respectability.  It 
would  justify  itself  by  the  excellence  of  its  moral  training. 
It  would  make  redemption  depend  upon  degrees  of  cultural 
attainment,  and  salvation  a  matter  of  preferential  faith  in 
Christ.  To  a  formalist  in  religion  the  great  soul  struggles 
out  of  which  a  man  emerges  a  new  moral  being  are  a  mystery 
as  profound  and  impossible  as  a  man  being  born  again  when 
he  is  old.  A  man  of  this  type  cannot  be  approached  by  every 
path.  He  who  would  capture  him  for  Christ  must  find  the 
way  over  which  his  soul  has  gone  in  its  spiritual  journey,  and, 
traversing  that,  reach  the  sequestered  citadel  and  take  it  in 
the  name  of  the  higher  truth  of  the  Spirit. 

The  Intellectual  Approach 

The  intellectual  approach  was  used  by  Jesus  in  dealing  with 
Nicodemus.  This  method  appeals  to  reason  and  to  the  knowl¬ 
edge  a  man  already  has  on  the  subject  under  discussion.  It 
seeks  to  connect  his  thinking  with  the  new  thought  under  con¬ 
sideration.  It  refuses  to  value  any  appeal  to  the  emotions. 
Sentiment  is  carefully  rejected.  All  personal  application  of 
the  truth,  all  evidence  of  soul-searchings,  are  studiously 
avoided.  This  evangelistic  method  seeks  to  go  straight  to 
the  intellectual  perception,  knowing  that  where  there  is 
honesty  and  moral  rectitude  the  truth  will  find  its  way  to  the 
heart.  This  approach  is  the  most  difficult  for  four  reasons: 
(i)  It  requires  patience.  (2)  It  requires  information.  (3) 
It  requires  familiar  knowledge  of  human  nature.  (4)  It 
requires  persistence,  for  at  the  psychological  moment  the  soul 


FOR  AN  INQUIRING  SOUL 


33 


in  its  sensitiveness  to  capture  may  elude  its  pursuer.  Hence 
it  must  be  conceded  that  ability  to  bring  a  man  over  the  in¬ 
tellectual  approach  to  the  acceptance  of  the  profound  mystery 
of  the  soul  life,  and  to  experience  its  reality,  is  not  to  be 
gained  without  much  diligence  and  prayer. 

Essential  Evangelism 

It  should  be  therefore  readily  seen  that  the  intellectual 
approach  is  always  used  by  Essential  Evangelism.  Non- 
essentials  do  not  count  when  an  appeal  is  made  to  the  in¬ 
tellect.  It  seeks  to  do  the  work  of  laying  the  foundation  of 
the  Christian  life  deep  in  the  finest  faculties  of  human  nature. 
It  seeks  to  eliminate  emotion,  to  avoid  metaphor,  to  arrive 
at  the  last  and  fundamental  thing.  It  asks,  at  the  final 
analysis,  What  differentiates  a  Christian  from  the  unbeliever? 
It  endeavors  to  find  the  essential  truth  that  will  make  a 
Christian.  What  that  truth  is  cannot  be  told  in  a  passing 
mood.  Only  few  men  can  be  trusted  to  make  out  of  it  the 
full  form  of  what  Christ  meant  the  spiritual  life  to  be.  He 
answered  the  question  in  dealing  with  Nicodemus,  as  we 
shall  find  in  further  study,  as  though  he  knew  that  what  was 
essential  for  one  man  was  not  for  another,  or  that  behind 
all  men  there  was  a  point  of  truth  to  which  few  ever  pene¬ 
trate,  where  the  same  action  of  faith  would  produce  the  same 
results.  In  this  case  of  the  inquiring  soul  of  Nicodemus  the 
essential  truth  was  expressed  in  the  sentence,  “Except  a  man 
be  born  from  above,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  heaven” 
(see  John  3.  3,  margin).  This  is  so  general  a  proposition 
that,  when  we  consider  the  wide  range  of  the  Christian  faith 
and  the  large  number  of  the  essential  elements,  we  find  it 
difficult  to  articulate  and  associate  it  with  others  in  whose 
light  it  must  be  interpreted.  Jesus  went  so  far  in  presenting 
the  essential  element  of  his  evangelism  in  this  instance  that 
men  have  found  it  a  serious  task  in  endeavoring  to  under¬ 
stand  him  and  to  agree  to  any  extent  on  a  common  interpre¬ 
tation  of  his  words.  And  yet,  upon  a  candid  consideration 
of  all  that  he  has  said,  and  the  teaching  of  the  apostles,  at 
the  last  analysis  we  may  faithfully  and  unequivocally  avow 
that  the  Christian  life  begins  with  a  spiritual  crisis  of  more  or 
less  definiteness,  which  Christ  was  pleased  to  call  a  birth  from 
above. 


34 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


The  Conversion  of  Nicodemus 

The  conversation  of  Jesus  with  Nicodemus,  whose  inquiring 
soul  sought  him  in  the  night,  is  one  of  the  most  thought- 
provoking  incidents  in  his  short  career.  The  ruler  of  the 
Jews  sought  the  Prophet  of  Galilee  alone,  and  when  he  knew 
the  Master  would  not  be  disturbed  by  the  jostling  crowd. 
Personally  he  was  a  Pharisee,  a  member  of  the  Sanhedrin, 
a  ruler  among  the  Jews,  a  student,  not  only  of  the  history  of 
his  people  but  also  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived.  He  was 
a  man  with  the  night  lamp.  His  inquiring  mind  made  him  an 
investigator,  a  discoverer  of  moral  motive  and  appreciative  of 
spiritual  truth ;  but  it  also  produced  out  of  him  a  man  of 
indecision,  who  could  see  the  truth  by  night,  even  midst  storm 
and  stress,  at  his  own  peril,  and  still  not  find  conviction  enough 
to  rise  and  stand  for  it.  For  this  reason  he  has  been  called 
the  Hamlet  of  the  New  Testament. 

In  contrast  with  Nathanael,  he  was  trained  and  cultured 
in  the  ways  of  men.  He  rested  faith  on  authority,  Nathanael 
on  hope  and  Scripture.  He  looked  to  the  past  with  all  its 
evidence  of  God’s  favor;  Nathanael  looked  to  the  future 
when  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  would  bless  his  people.  He 
trusted  in  tradition,  believed  the  words  of  the  prophets  could 
never  be  surpassed;  Nathanael  trusted  in  the  fulfillment  of 
the  law  and  the  prophets  in  the  glorious  day  of  the  Lord. 
He  was  a  formalist  in  religion,  trusting  in  the  sanctity  of 
burnt-offerings,  and  the  payment  of  tithe  of  mint  and  anise 
and  cummin;  Nathanael  was  a  realist  to  whom  the  things 
of  God  were  literally  true.  He  looked  for  the  coming  of  a 
kingdom  with  the  return  of  the  glory  of  the  throne  of  David ; 
Nathanael  looked  for  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  who  would 
speak  to  men’s  hearts  of  the  majesty  and  regard  of  the  God 
of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob.  While  Nicodemus  stood  in  the 
midst  of  indecision  with  the  shadows  of  night  falling  across 
his  path  asking,  “What  shall  I  do?”  Nathanael  arose  from 
his  prayers  and  meditation  to  ask,  “What  shall  I  be?” 

Nicodemus  was  a  man  of  action,  strong,  impulsive,  caught 
up  by  the  great  intellectual  problems  of  life  and  driven  on 
a  shoal.  Until  he  met  Jesus  of  Nazareth  he  did  not  think 
the  problems  of  the  spirit  were  so  profound.  He  grounded 
on  the  first  question,  and  could  only  answer,  “How  can  these 
things  be?” 


FOR  AN  INQUIRING  SOUL 


35 


Nicodemus,  a  formalist  in  religion,  did  not  worship  God 
as  an  individual.  He  worshiped  and  prayed  according  to  a 
form  provided  for  use  by  all  members  of  his  religious  group. 
His  was  a  social  or  ritualistic  religion.  The  formulas  he  re¬ 
peated  any  man  of  his  group  could  have  repeated.  The 
scripture  he  recited  any  man  of  his  station  could  have  recited. 
The  songs  he  sang  and  the  prayers  he  offered  had  been  pro¬ 
vided  by  some  one  else,  not  for  him  alone,  but  for  all  who 
believed  with  him.  He  was  unfamiliar  with  any  particular, 
distinctive,  individualistic  note  that  might  have  been  formed 
out  of  his  own  heart  need.  In  his  conversation  with  Jesus 
he  takes  three  positions : 

First.  He  speaks  from  his  social  position.  “Rabbi,  we  know 
that  thou  art  a  teacher  come  from  God :  for  no  man  can  do 
these  miracles  that  thou  doest,  except  God  be  with  him.”  In 
these  words  is  the  voice  of  the  religious  group  to  which  he 
belonged.  That  select  body  of  men,  representative  of  the  most 
conservative  interests  of  the  Jewish  religion,  spoke.  He  did 
not  speak  for  himself.  He  expressed  the  opinion  of  his  class. 
“We  know” — that  was  the  voice  of  the  Pharisees.  Jesus  saw 
him  hiding  behind  the  opinions  of  others.  He  answered  him 
direct,  with  an  effort  to  separate  him  from  his  class  conscious¬ 
ness  :  “Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God.”  This  was  more  definite — “a  man,”  an  in¬ 
dividual.  That  was  distinct  ground,  separate  and  apart. 
Would  Nicodemus  step  over  and  occupy  it?  Christ  meets 
no  man  at  first  on  the  level  of  the  social  group.  In  this 
instance  the  attempted  social  formula  of  religion  was  thrust 
aside,  the  individual  was  pushed  to  the  front :  “Except  a  man 
be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God.” 

Second.  Nicodemus  changed  the  attitude  and  spoke  from 
his  position  of  authority:  “How  can  a  man  be  born  when 
he  is  old?”  That  was  the  voice  of  the  official  man.  He  spoke 
from  this  position  as  a  ruler  of  the  Jews.  He  had  heard  the 
announcement  of  a  new  doctrine.  It  stirred  the  officer  in 
him,  and  placed  him  on  his  guard.  Did  he  hear  a  heresy  or 
the  vaporing  of  an  impossibility?  The  ruler  in  Israel  was 
not  only  interested,  but  aroused  in  defense  of  what  he  had 
been  taught  was  the  truth.  He  saw  himself  for  the  moment 
as  a  defender  of  the  faith  committed  unto  Israel.  He  saw 
himself — that  was  sufficient. 

Third.  Jesus  proceeded  with  his  discourse  on  individual 


36 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


salvation  until  Nicodemus  took  his  third  position — that  of  an 
individual  standing  in  amazement  before  the  fundamental 
truth  of  the  spiritual  life,  namely,  the  explanation  of  the 
birth  from  above :  “That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh ; 
and  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit.”  The  ruler 
of  the  Jews  shows  himself  bewildered.  As  an  individual  he 
forgets  the  members  of  his  class,  the  Pharisees,  and  that 
group  of  the  Sanhedrin  among  whom  he  held  forth  as  a 
reliable  leader.  He  has  arrived  at  his  own  threshold  and 
stops  with  what  he  considered  an  ultimate  interrogative, 
“How  can  these  things  be?”  Immediately  Jesus  pinioned  the 
individual  Nicodemus  with  the  direct  personal  question,  ap¬ 
pealing  to  his  judgment  as  a  man  of  wisdom  and  authority, 
“Art  thou  a  master  of  Israel,  and  knowest  not  these  things?” 
Having  brought  his  inquisitor  to  the  place  where  he  stood 
alone,  apart  from  his  group,  Jesus  was  able  to  deal  with  him 
in  the  highest  interests  of  his  soul. 

The  Nicodemus  Type  of  Religion  fails  at  least  at  three 
points : 

First.  At  the  point  of  individualism.  Men  cannot  be  saved 
en  masse.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  does  not  come  first  in 
social  movement,  nor  in  the  perfecting  of  religious  formulas 
drafted  for  the  use  of  the  multitude,  but,  rather,  in  the  heart 
of  the  individual ;  for  those  words  of  Christ,  “The  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  within  you,”  must  not  be  forgotten. 

Second.  At  the  necessity  for  regeneration.  There  is  a 
difference  between  generation  and  regeneration.  The  second 
cannot  be  dispensed  with  by  the  scientific  application  of  cul¬ 
tural  processes.  It  is  a  basic,  universal  necessity.  In  this 
position  there  is  a  demand  to  distinguish  between  that  which 
is  of  the  flesh  and  that  which  is  of  the  spirit.  Nothing  relat¬ 
ing  to  the  birth  and  growth  of  the  body  can  be  adapted  to 
or  substituted  for  the  birth  of  the  spirit.  These  only  furnish 
a  capacity  which,  functioning  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  reach 
fruition  in  the  spiritual  birth. 

Third.  At  the  point  of  necessity  for  a  doctrine  of  salvation 
for  human  salvage.  By  nature  a  man  cannot  go  back  and 
reconstruct  his  life.  If  he  wrecks  his  character  and  comes 
to  grief,  he  is  denied  another  chance  to  rebuild.  Where  re¬ 
generation  is  denied,  degeneration  works  its  rapid  processes. 
A  religion  that  can  take  the  individual  after  he  has  sinned 


FOR  AN  INQUIRING  SOUL 


37 


away  his  youth  and  restore  his  powers,  enthrone  his  will, 
cleanse  his  affections,  and  make  his  entire  moral  nature  react 
against  his  past,  is  of  the  Spirit  and  must  come  from  God. 
The  religion  Nicodemus  professed  knew  nothing  of  that  life 
which  is  born  from  above.  To  him  it  was  a  profound  mystery 
for  which  there  could  be,  on  the  basis  of  sanity,  no  satis¬ 
factory  solution. 

The  Reason  for  the  Presentation  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
new  birth  to  Nicodemus  is  not  obvious.  He  was  a  patrician 
among  the  religionists  of  his  people.  As  an  upright  man  he 
represented  the  highest  type  of  morality  and  devotion.  He 
was  not  a  profligate  and  a  sinner,  whose  life  was  crying  out 
for  a  new  birth.  Why  did  Jesus  meet  him  with  this  doctrine? 
Why  did  he  not  approach  him  with  a  truth  similar  to  that 
he  gave  to  Nathanael?  Nicodemus  would  seem  to  be  the  last 
man  to  whom  the  doctrine  of  the  birth  from  above  would  be 
applicable  and  fundamental.  The  answer  is  direct:  Because 
he  trusted  in  his  birth  to  enable  him  to  inherit  the  kingdom 
of  God.  He  was  of  the  sons  of  Abraham  and  an  heir  of 
the  promises.  He  was  a  man  of  position,  a  member  of  the 
party  of  the  Pharisees,  and  enjoyed  a  seat  among  the  rulers 
of  his  people  in  the  Sanhedrin.  Being  a  child  of  Abraham, 
his  birth  would  surely  give  him  a  place  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  What  an  illustration  of  the  keen  discernment  of 
Jesus  in  his  method  of  approach!  As  long  as  Nicodemus 
trusted  in  the  merits  of  his  physical  birth  he  could  never  be 
brought  to  see  the  distinct  and  supreme  value  of  the  birth 
of  the  Spirit.  Without  doubt  it  was  the  most  essential  doc¬ 
trine  for  him  at  that  moment. 

The  disillusionment  of  a  man  is  not  brought  about  instantly. 
However,  that  was  what  Jesus  found  necessary  in  this  in¬ 
stance.  To  convince  him  that  being  born  a  son  of  Abraham 
did  not  count  before  the  demands  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
meant  invalidating  the  fundamental  principle  of  his  faith. 
With  a  most  positive  statement  the  Master  places  the  spirit¬ 
ual  over  against  the  physical  birth.  “Except  a  man  be  born 
from  above  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God”  (see  John 
3.  3,  margin).  He  confronts  the  man  with  an  inexorable 
alternative.  There  is  not  “either,  or.”  It  is  one  thing  or 
nothing.  The  spiritual  birth  is  a  fundamental  absolute.  Nico¬ 
demus  protests,  “How  can  a  man  be  born  when  he  is  old?” 


38 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


Is  not  one  birth  sufficient?  Does  not  the  physical  birth  with 
its  property  of  descent  contain  the  entire  destiny  of  man? 

Jesus  made  a  definite  distinction :  “Except  a  man  be  born 
of  water” — physical  birth;  “Except  a  man  be  born  of  the 
spirit” — spiritual  birth.  Flesh  is  flesh,  spirit  is  spirit.  Their 
origin  and  operations  are  separate  and  distinct.  He  knew 
of  a  life  possible  to  humanity,  “born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the 
will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God.”  To 
think  correctly  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Spirit  is  fundamental, 
for  at  this  point  rests  our  faith  in  a  natural  and  a  super¬ 
natural  religion.  If  we  become  sons  of  God  by  physical 
descent,  then  we  remove  the  necessity  for  a  definite  spiritual 
birth.  This  is  consenting  to  the  doctrine  that  human  destiny 
is  contained  from  the  beginning  in  heredity  and  environment. 

There  were  five  reasons  for  Jesus  laying  down  this  definite 
and  positive  doctrine  for  Nicodemus : 

First.  To  him  religion  was  the  expression  of  the  highest 
natural  forms  of  man. 

Second.  To  him  religion  could  be  explained  altogether  as 
the  proper  unfoldment  of  the  physical  life  of  man. 

Third.  To  him  the  spiritual  life  could  be  accounted  for  by 
heredity,  environment,  training,  and  individual  initiative. 

Fourth.  To  him  the  kingdom  of  God  was  the  reestablish¬ 
ment  of  Israel. 

Fifth.  To  him  the  kingdom  of  God  was  the  supremacy  of 
his  tribe  and  the  survival  of  his  family. 

The  doctrine  of  the  spiritual  birth  carries  with  it  the  truth 
of  an  invaluable  current  of  heredity,  which  flows  from  above, 
concealed  in  the  life  that  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  The 
lower  stream  flows  through  the  individual  life  from  many 
ancestors,  influencing  him  almost  to  the  elimination  of  per¬ 
sonal  responsibility.  This  is  physical.  The  higher  stream 
is  that  of  spiritual  heredity,  connecting  a  man  with  God,  lifting 
him  into  the  control  of  forces  that  come  not  from  beneath 
but  from  above,  defining  personal  responsibility  and  accentuat¬ 
ing  moral  control. 

Jesus  succeeded  in  bringing  the  ruler  of  the  Jews  to  see 
his  position.  It  was  a  revelation,  but  clear  and  inexorable. 
Sons  of  Abraham  by  natural  generation  must  be  born  from 
above  to  become  the  sons  of  God.  This  is  distinctively  Chris¬ 
tian.  He  who  has  not  realized  it  in  his  own  life  stands  with 
Nicodemus,  worshiping  the  God  of  Abraham,  not  knowing 


FOR  AN  INQUIRING  SOUL 


39 


the  essential  difference  personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  can 
make  in  securing  a  heritage  of  sonship  with  himself  in  God. 

The  Doctrine  of  the  New  Birth  has  a  definite  place  in  the 
evangelism  of  Jesus.  It  has  its  mystery  which  can  only  be 
reduced  by  Christian  experience.  It  presents  that  doctrine  of 
sonship,  which  remains  a  matter  of  controversy,  and  at  the 
same  time  claims  to  be  the  fundamental  distinction  of  Christ's 
teaching.  Therefore  all  who  would  follow  him  in  experience 
and  faith  will  seek  to  clearly  understand  him,  lest  they  fail 
to  enjoy  the  full  light  of  the  truth  to  which  he  referred 
when  he  said,  “I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life:  no 
man  cometh  unto  the  Father,  but  by  me.” 

In  discussing  the  teaching  of  the  new  birth  we  discover, 
first,  its  mystery,  and,  second,  its  necessity. 

First,  the  mystery  of  “the  birth  from  above.”  Its  funda¬ 
mental  inference  is  that  flesh  and  spirit  are  distinct.  One  is 
born  from  below,  and  through  all  the  days  on  earth  draws  life 
from  that  source.  To  what  extent  can  such  a  creature  become 
a  spiritual  being?  It  is  a  matter  for  definition.  What  dis¬ 
tinction  can  be  made  between  a  natural  and  a  spiritual  being? 
Again,  we  refer  to  our  former  definition  of  personality,  and 
find  in  that  the  characterization  desired — self-consciousness 
and  self-determination.  As  far  as  we  are  able  to  tell,  man 
is  the  only  creature  on  earth  manifesting  these  two  charac¬ 
teristics.  Inorganic  nature  has  no  conscious  existence.  The 
plant  and  the  animal  have  a  purely  objective  life.  They  have 
a  limited  degree  of  self-activity,  but  they  do  not  have  power  of 
consciously  determining  their  present  or  future.  They  main¬ 
tain  themselves  and  develop  by  the  subjugation  of  external 
conditions  to  the  law  of  their  being.  Neither  of  them  can 
know  or  will  its  own  inner  conquest.  In  the  realm  of  nature 
man  stands  apart  with  this  distinction :  he  maintains  and 
develops  himself  primarily  by  the  subjugation  of  internal  con¬ 
ditions ;  that  of  external  nature  is  secondary.  The  spirit¬ 
uality  of  man  is  manifest  in  his  capacity  to  plan  conscious 
action  which  determines  his  life  to-morrow.  Upon  this  basis 
it  is  claimed  that  man,  by  nature  a  spiritual  being,  should  not 
be  considered  a  creature,  but  a  son  of  God.  He  was  originally 
created  in  the  image  of  Deity  and  after  his  likeness.  There¬ 
fore  it  is  claimed  that  all  men  are,  in  a  fundamental  sense, 
sons  of  God.  What,  then,  does  Christ  mean  by  stating  the 


40 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


necessity  of  another  birth  as  conditioning  sonship  with  him¬ 
self  in  God?  It  is  a  profound  mystery.  Wherein  does  Jesus 
Christ  enter  into  a  man's  life  to  make  him  different  from  other 
men?  It  is  thought  of,  in  this  instance,  in  the  language  of 
a  birth  from  above. 

There  is  a  scientific  significance  to  this  phrase  that  must  not 
be  overlooked.  “Born  from  above”  expresses  the  reality  of 
a  law  of  God’s  universe.  Modern  science  has  traced  it  in 
many  of  its  applications,  but  Jesus  was  the  first  to  mention 
it.  It  avows  that  the  different  kingdoms — mineral,  vegetable, 
and  animal — are  closed  to  each  other  from  beneath;  that  is, 
the  one  below  cannot  enter  the  one  above.  There  is  no  com¬ 
munication,  only  as  life  from  above  descends  to  that  below 
and  lifts  it  up.  Christ  had  three  experiences  in  which  he 
referred  to  this  law:  (i)  In  his  temptation,  when  Satan 
suggested,  “Turn  these  stones  into  bread” — the  original  reads, 
“From  above  into  bread.”  Stones  cannot  be  turned  into 
bread  any  other  way.  (2)  When  dealing  with  Nicodemus, 
Jesus  said,  “Except  a  man  be  born  from  above,  he  cannot  see 
the  kingdom  of  God.”  For  the  kingdom  of  man  can  be 
entered  only  from  above.  Life  must  come  down  and  lift  it 
up  into  the  spiritual  kingdom.  (3)  In  answering  Pilate,  the 
Roman  procurator,  Jesus  said,  “Thou  couldest  have  no  power 
at  all  against  me,  except  it  were  given  thee  from  above ”  (John 
19.  11).  Power  of  control  released  from  above  is  a  mystery  to 
the  average  man.  Yet  Christ  was  conscious  of  it  and  walked 
submissively  in  the  presence  of  its  reality. 

His  position  is  based  upon  this  twofold  truth:  (1)  That 
man  by  nature  has  a  residuum  of  spirituality  that  can  be 
acted  upon  by  life  from  above,  that  it  represents  capacity 
for  spiritual  response  and  can  be  transformed  and  lifted  into 
spiritual  life,  that  when  the  life  from  above  arrives  in  a 
man’s  being  it  culminates  the  process  by  which  he  becomes 
a  spiritual  being,  called  a  son  of  God.  (2)  That  Jesus  him¬ 
self  is  that  life  from  above  which,  if  received  by  faith,  pro¬ 
duces  that  inner  change  in  a  man’s  spirit  that  lifts  him  into 
a  distinctive  life  which  the  New  Testament  declares  is  entered 
by  a  new  birth. 

Not  only  does  physical  science  throw  light  upon  this  teach¬ 
ing  of  Jesus  as  a  mystery  and  reality,  but  psychology  also 
lends  its  assistance.  In  this  field  of  study  it  is  claimed  that 
man  is  not  a  rational  creature  until  in  his  individual  growth 


FOR  AN  INQUIRING  SOUL 


4i 


he  becomes  a  self-conscious  being.  In  the  first  period  of  his 
life  he  is  a  body  of  instincts,  appetites,  and  passions.  These 
determine  his  action  and  control  his  volition.  They  initiate 
him  into  life,  give  him  a  certain  direction,  and  prepare  the 
way  for  the  higher  moral  and  rational  activities.  But  while 
the  child-man  is  on  this  level  he  is  driven  practically  by  the 
same  forces  that  control  in  the  animal  kingdom.  It  is  an 
automatic  form  of  life  with  mechanical  expressions,  that 
readily  pronounce  it  as  not  having  reached  the  level  of 
rationality  and  morality.  However,  there  comes  a  period  in 
the  development  of  the  individual  when  a  new  element  in 
his  being  appears.  The  age  of  accountability  arrives.  The 
moral  will  announces  itself  by  asserting  control.  The  self- 
conscious  being  seeks  to  be  free  and  to  assert  the  right  of 
self-direction.  The  old  impulses,  appetites,  passions,  and  in¬ 
stincts  assert  themselves  against  the  demand  of  moral  con¬ 
trol.  Then  appears  that  inner  struggle  known  to  all  good 
men.  It  is  of  the  very  essence  of  that  self-conscious  nature 
to  be  divided  against  itself  and  to  win  its  perfection,  its  ideals, 
its  freedom,  and  its  harmony  as  the  result  of  a  fierce  and  pro¬ 
tracted  internal  strife.  This  is  the  characteristic  of  a  moral 
being.  Man  living  on  the  moral  level  and  maintaining  the 
rational  direction  of  his  life  finds  a  continuous  conflict  of 
nature  with  spirit,  of  impulse  with  reason,  of  the  lower  with 
the  higher  self.  He  is  driven  to  accept  the  conclusion  that  for 
a  rational  self-conscious  being  there  is  no  escape  from  this 
conflict.  However,  as  years  come  and  go  and  experience 
lengthens  in  a  man  living  apart  from  Christ,  the  lower 
passions,  appetites,  and  instincts  become  articulate  with  his 
moral  will  by  pulling  it  down  from  its  original  high  spiritual 
levels  to  the  place  where,  though  subordinated,  they  neutralize 
the  struggle  against  them  and  function  at  will. 

The  foregoing  is  a  characterization  of  man  as  he  is  by 
nature.  What  change  is  brought  about  when,  by  the  exercise 
of  faith,  Christ  enters  the  life?  What  does  he  find  there? 
A  discord,  a  conflict,  a  restlessness,  a  struggling  for  mastery 
on  the  part  of  the  self  against  that  which  is  regarded  as  the 
“not  self,”  which  comes  to  stand  over  against  the  real  self, 
takes  on  the  form  of  another  self,  clamors  for  conscious 
indulgence,  and  seeks  to  draw  over  into  itself  from  the  higher 
nature  a  kind  of  illegitimate  right  to  live.  It  endeavors  to 
slowly  close  up  the  field  of  strife  and  articulate  freely  as 


42 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


a  part  of  the  higher  self.  At  this  place  in  the  struggles 
between  man’s  real  self  and  the  control  of  the  self  of  pas¬ 
sions,  instincts,  and  appetites,  Christ  enters  human  experience, 
and  the  birth  from  above  which  makes  a  man  a  son  of  God 
occurs.  Not  until  a  moral  conflict  is  produced,  creating  with¬ 
in  a  man  a  dual  consciousness,  we  call  conviction  for  sin, 
does  Christ  have  an  opportunity  to  exercise  his  influence  in 
the  life.  Not  until  a  man  sees,  set  over  against  what  he  is, 
an  unsettling  vision  of  what  he  can  be,  are  spiritual  conditions 
ready  for  Christ.  When  faith  acts  a  new  element  enters  into 
that  struggle;  It  is  not  of  man.  It  is  of  Christ.  He  com¬ 
pletes  the  division  between  the  two  sections  of  the  split  per¬ 
sonality,  sets  the  man  over  against  his  evil  self,  makes  the 
battle  distinct  and  defines  its  limits.  One  great  soul,  Saul 
of  Tarsus,  under  his  leadership  in  the  midst  of  such  a  con¬ 
flict  cried  out  in  memorable  words,  “O  wretched  man  that 
I  am!  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death?” 
Then  with  a  marvelous  assurance  he  answered,  “I  thank  God 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.”  Here  is  the  secret  of  Christ 
in  Christian  experience.  Christ  sets  the  self-conscious  being 
free  from  the  downward  pull  of  the  natural  propensities  by 
giving  absolute  supremacy  to  the  spiritual  self.  This  is  the 
guarantee  of  primacy  and  victory  which  brings  joy,  comfort, 
and  enlargement  for  the  faculties  that  make  a  well-defined 
spiritual  being,  who  has  a  right  to  be  called  a  son  of  God. 
Such  an  experience  occurring  in  the  soul  must  be  a  conscious 
one,  and  is  a  deliverance  like  unto  the  release  by  birth  after 
the  storms  and  cold  of  a  winter  of  death. 

Second,  the  necessity  of  the  “birth  from  above”  is  opposed 
by  those  who  contend  that  all  men  are  sons  of  God  by  nature. 
They  are  born  so,  remain  so,  and  can  never  be  anything  else 
whether  saints  or  sinners,  believers  or  unbelievers.  This  dis¬ 
places  the  necessity  for  a  spiritual  birth  and  closes  those 
avenues  for  the  soul  to  reach  the  higher  ranges  of  spiritual 
development.  This  position  must  be  carefully  guarded,  for 
the  natural  unfoldment  of  the  spiritual  faculties  must  not 
be  made  to  depend  upon  life  from  nature,  to  supply  them 
with  power  to  function,  but  upon  life  from  above.  It  must 
also  be  emphasized  that  while  religious  education,  with  its 
training  of  the  faculties  and  enrichment  of  the  mind,  is  the 
ground  work  of  the  Christian  life  and  must  be  accomplished 
in  the  days  of  youth,  still  the  life  that  functions  through  the 


FOR  AN  INQUIRING  SOUL 


43 


trained  faculties  must  be  of  spiritual  origin  and  daily  sustained 
from  above.  The  forms  and  means  of  expression  afforded 
by  man  for  the  soul’s  manifestation  of  itself  are  under  human 
control,  but  the  life  and  the  nurture  that  supports  it  must 
come  from  God.  When  the  individual  reaches  adult  life 
without  the  influence  of  religious  training  having  nurtured 
and  developed  his  spiritual  powers,  preparing  them  for  the 
life  from  above,  the  provision  of  a  second  birth  becomes  a 
divine  necessity.  If  this  be  not  true  the  evangel  for  the  adult 
life  through  the  doctrine  of  regeneration  ceases  to  sound.  For 
if  there  is  no  possibility  of  second  birth,  the  man  of  mature 
life  who  has  gone  away  from  his  Father’s  house  and  spent 
his  substance  in  riotous  living  cannot  hope  for  regeneration 
and  another  chance. 

In  the  light  of  Christ’s  teaching,  the  birth  from  above 
must  not  be  disposed  of  by  psychology  or  a  theory  of  evolu¬ 
tion.  He  is  our  authority,  and  we  must  attend  unto  what 
he  has  to  say.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  declare  unto  a  man  of 
proud  and  cultured  birth,  “Ye  must  be  born  again.”  He 
surely  meant  to  teach  that  there  was  a  particular  and  unique 
sense  in  which  men  were  to  become  the  sons  of  God.  He 
also  leads  us  to  infer  that  there  is  an  experience  produced  by 
a  crisis  through  which  a  soul  passes  into  the  highest  pos¬ 
sible  relationship  with  God.  He  repeatedly  drew  a  marked 
and  striking  distinction  between  those  who  had  accepted  by 
faith  their  sonship  in  God  and  those  who  had  not.  The  differ¬ 
ence  was  so  vast  as  to  be  that  of  fundamental  nature,  similar 
to  the  difference  between  the  sheep  and  the  goat.  The  same 
position  is  maintained  by  Saint  John  in  his  Gospel  and  epistles. 
He  makes  a  broad,  deep,  and  appalling  difference  between 
men  who  are  God’s  sons  by  faith  and  those  who  are  not.  Saint 
Paul  repeatedly  revealed  the  fact  that  he  conceived  the  Chris¬ 
tian  life  as  a  possibility  for  mature  men  through  a  soul  crisis 
that  made  a  believer  in  Jesus  Christ  in  a  unique  sense  a  son  of 
God.  On  a  scriptural  basis  we  are  driven  to  this  position, 
that  to  be  sons  of  God  we  must  share  the  life  of  God,  of 
righteousness,  purity,  compassion,  holiness,  and  love.  Where 
these  are  not,  men  cannot  be  considered  in  any  spiritual  sense 
sons  of  God. 

However,  independent  thinking  leads  us  to  inquire  further: 
Is  there  any  appreciable  sense  in  which  God  is  the  Father 
of  all  men,  regardless  of  their  relation  to  Jesus  Christ?  Is 


44 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


this  claim  based  on  a  certain  relative  and  limited  ground? 
Is  it  made  as  a  benevolent  and  superficial  generalization  based 
upon  sentiment,  rather  than  upon  reason  and  Scripture?  If 
God  is  the  Father  of  men  in  a  very  real  sense,  then  the  law 
of  heredity  must  hold  and  demand  an  explanation.  If  God 
is  the  Father  of  all  men,  how  can  we  account  for  the  fact 
that  many  of  his  sons  are  drunkards,  habitual  liars,  selfish, 
morally  coarse,  sensual,  heartless,  and  so  mean  that  Jesus 
when  he  saw  them,  said,  “They  were  of  their  father  the 
devil”?  How  can  we  account  for  the  dark  vein  of  heredity 
in  the  unregenerate  sons  of  man?  Will  we  hold  God  re¬ 
sponsible  for  their  immoral  conduct?  Is  he  the  Father  of 
children  born  with  a  capacity  for  sin?  To  some  extent  then 
his  Fatherhood  is  either  limited  or  accommodated. 

Again,  if  the  Fatherhood  of  God  covers  all  men,  then  we 
may  argue  that  a  son  shares  his  Father’s  equality.  He  may 
even  become  his  superior  in  strength,  intellect,  soundness  of 
judgment,  and  moral  goodness.  This  is  the  beauty,  privilege, 
and  crown  of  sonship.  Can  any  man,  as  a  son  of  God,  even 
approach  equality  with  him?  In  that  sense  we  cannot  possibly 
be  his  sons.  This  conception  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  finds 
another  limitation. 

Again,  if  the  Fatherhood  of  God  covers  all  men,  then  we 
may  argue  that  on  the  basis  of  nature  man  does  not  approach 
the  moral  sphere  of  God,  for  instance,  his  highest  glory  in 
his  moral  perfection.  Destroy  that  and  you  destroy  our 
thought  of  him.  Men  may  be  righteous  or  unrighteous  and 
still  be  men ;  not  so  with  God.  Men  may  be  pure  or  impure 
and  still  be  men;  not  so  with  God.  Men  may  be  holy  or  un¬ 
holy  and  still  be  men ;  not  so  with  God.  Men  may  be  cruel 
or  compassionate  and  still  be  men;  not  so  with  God.  Men 
may  be  selfish  or  unselfish  and  still  be  men ;  but  not  so  with 
God.  Reduce  or  modify  his  moral  nature  and  he  loses  his 
identity.  In  our  conception  of  man,  morality  or  immorality 
does  not  disturb  our  fundamental  thought  of  him.  What 
relation,  then,  can  a  being  so  opposite  hold  to  the  Moral 
Ruler  of  the  universe?  Can  he  call  him  Father  when  that 
which  makes  him  distinguishable  has  so  small  weight  in 
determining  his  own  being?  Upon  the  basis  of  nature  the 
Fatherhood  of  God  is  a  long  bridge  across  a  wide  chasm, 
built  by  man,  with  no  abutment  on  the  other  end ;  for  it 
declares  that  all  men  are  God’s  sons,  which  is  realizable  only 


FOR  AN  INQUIRING  SOUL 


45 


on  the  condition  of  faith  as  v/e  commonly  understand  Father¬ 
hood.  However,  this  should  be  accepted  as  true,  that  God  is 
the  Father  of  all  men  in  a  potential  sense,  which  may  be 
realized  on  conditions  stated  by  Christ  and  recorded  in  other 
parts  of  the  New  Testament. 

In  dealing  with  the  soul  of  Nicodemus,  Jesus  presented  an 
illustration  of  essential  evangelism.  Its  fundamental  claim 
is  that  the  spiritual  life  as  a  Christian  finds  it  has  a  definite 
beginning,  and  is  on  a  higher  level  than  any  life  drawing  its 
sources  from  the  physical  powers  and  functions.  Its  origin 
is  that  of  a  birth.  By  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  believers  come 
into  a  unique  relationship  to  God  in  which  they  may  truth¬ 
fully  be  called  his  sons.  They  come  to  the  enjoyment  of  a 
spiritual  heredity,  and  the  realization  of  a  consciousness  of 
special  favor  with  God  as  a  sure  and  fast  support. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  CLASS  STUDY 

1.  What  is  a  formal  type? 

2.  What  is  an  intellectual  approach? 

3.  What  is  essential  evangelism? 

4.  Give  three  attitudes  of  Nicodemus  toward  Jesus. 

5.  Wherein  did  the  Nicodemus  type  of  religion  fail? 

6.  Why  did  Jesus  present  to  Nicodemus  the  doctrine  of 
the  new  birth? 

7.  What  is  the  doctrine  of  the  new  birth? 

8.  What  is  the  mystery  of  the  new  birth? 

9.  In  what  sense  is  there  a  reality  in  the  new  birth? 

10.  How  does  psychology  explain  the  new  birth? 

11.  What  happens  when  Christ  enters  human  experience? 

12.  Characterize  man  as  he  is  by  nature. 

13.  In  what  respect  is  the  new  birth  a  necessity? 

14.  In  what  respect  are  men  sons  of  God  through  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ? 

15.  In  what  respect  is  God  the  Father  of  all  men? 


Grant  that  Jesus  was  really  God,  and  everything  falls 
orderly  into  its  place.  Deny  it,  and  you  have  a  Jesus  and  a 
Christianity  on  your  hands  both  equally  unaccountable;  and 
that  is  as  much  as  to  say  that  the  ultimate  proof  of  the 
deity  of  Christ  is  just — Jesus  and  Christianity.  If  Christ 
were  not  God,  we  should  have  a  very  different  Jesus  and  a 
very  different  Christianity.  And  this  is  the  reason  that 
modern  unbelief  bends  all  its  energies  in  a  vain  effort  to 
abolish  the  historical  Jesus  and  destroy  historical  Chris¬ 
tianity.  Its  instinct  is  right,  but  its  task  is  hopeless.  We  need 
the  Jesus  of  history  to  account  for  the  Christianity  of  history. 
And  we  need  both  the  Jesus  of  history  and  the  Christianity 
of  history  to  account  for  the  history  of  the  world.  The  his¬ 
tory  of  the  world  is  the  product  of  that  precise  Christianity 
which  has  actually  existed,  and  the  Christianity  is  the  product 
of  the  precise  Jesus  which  actually  was.  To  be  rid  of  this 
Jesus  we  must  be  rid  of  this  Christianity,  and  to  be  rid  of 
this  Christianity  we  must  be  rid  of  the  world-history  that 
has  grown  out  of  it.  We  must  have  the  Christianity  of  his¬ 
tory  and  the  Jesus  of  history  or  we  have  the  world  that 
exists,  and  as  it  exists,  unaccounted  for.  But  so  long  as  we 
have  either  the  Jesus  of  history  or  the  Christianity  of  his¬ 
tory,  we  shall  have  a  divine  Jesus. — Warfield. 


I 


CHAPTER  III 


For  the  Sinful  Soul 

The  Defective  Type 
The  Moral  Approach 
Initial  Evangelism 

The  Conversion  of  the  Woman  of  Samaria 

Scripture  :  John  4.  5-42 

Then  cometh  he  to  a  city  of  Samaria,  which  is  called 
Sychar,  near  to  the  parcel  of  ground  that  Jacob  gave  to  his 
son  Joseph. 

Now  Jacob’s  well  was  there.  Jesus  therefore,  being  wearied 
with  his  journey,  sat  thus  on  the  well:  and  it  was  about  the 
sixth  hour. 

There  cometh  a  woman  of  Samaria  to  draw  water:  Jesus 
saith  unto  her,  Give  me  to  drink. 

(For  his  disciples  were  gone  away  unto  the  city  to  buy 
meat.) 

Then  saith  the  woman  of  Samaria  unto  him,  How  is  it 
that  thou,  being  a  Jew,  askest  drink  of  me,  which  am  a 
woman  of  Samaria?  for  the  Jews  have  no  dealings  with  the 
Samaritans. 

Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her,  If  thou  knewest  the 
gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is  that  saith  to  thee,  Give  me  to 
drink;  thou  wouldest  have  asked  of  him,  and  he  would  have 
given  thee  living  water. 

The  woman  saith  unto  him,  Sir,  thou  hast  nothing  to  draw 
with,  and  the  well  is  deep :  from  whence  then  hast  thou  that 
living  water? 

Art  thou  greater  than  our  father  Jacob,  which  gave  us 
the  well,  and  drank  thereof  himself,  and  his  children,  and 
his  cattle? 

Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  her,  Whosoever  drinketh  of 
this  water  shall  thirst  again : 

49 


50 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


But  whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him 
shall  never  thirst;  but  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall 
be  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  everlasting  life. 

The  woman  saith  unto  him,  Sir,  give  me  this  water,  that 
I  thirst  not,  neither  come  hither  to  draw. 

Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Go,  call  thy  husband,  and  come  hither. 

The  woman  answered  and  said,  I  have  no  husband.  Jesus 
said  unto  her,  Thou  hast  well  said,  I  have  no  husband : 

For  thou  hast  had  five  husbands;  and  he  whom  thou  now 
hast  is  not  thy  husband :  in  that  saidst  thou  truly. 

The  woman  saith  unto  him,  Sir,  I  perceive  that  thou  art  a 
prophet. 

Our  fathers  worshiped  in  this  mountain;  and  ye  say,  that 
in  Jerusalem  is  the  place  where  men  ought  to  worship. 

Jesus  saith  unto  her,  Woman,  believe  me,  the  hour  cometh, 
when  ye  shall  neither  in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  at  Jerusalem, 
worship  the  Father. 

Ye  worship  ye  know  not  what:  we  know  what  we  worship: 
for  salvation  is  of  the  Jews. 

But  the  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  true  worshipers 
shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth :  for  the 
Father  seekest  such  to  worship  him. 

God  is  a  Spirit :  and  they  that  worship  him  must  worship 
him  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

The  woman  saith  unto  him,  I  know  that  Messias  cometh, 
which  is  called  Christ :  when  he  is  come,  he  will  tell  us  all 
things. 

Jesus  saith  unto  her,  I  that  speak  unto  thee  am  he. 

And  upon  this  came  his  d’sciples,  and  marveled  that  he 
talked  with  the  woman:  yet  no  man  said,  What  seekest  thou? 
or,  Why  talkest  thou  with  her? 

The  woman  then  left  her  waterpot,  and  went  her  way  into 
the  city,  and  saith  to  the  men, 

Come,  see  a  man,  which  told  me  all  things  that  ever  I  did : 
is  not  this  the  Christ? 

Then  they  went  out  of  the  city,  and  came  unto  him. 

In  the  meanwhile  his  disciples  prayed  him,  saying,  Master, 
eat. 

But  he  said  unto  them,  I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye  know 
not  of. 

Therefore  said  the  disciples  one  to  another,  Hath  any  man 
brought  him  aught  to  eat? 

Jesus  saith  unto  them,  My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him 
that  sent  me,  and  to  finish  his  work. 

Say  not  ye,  There  are  yet  four  months,  and  then  cometh 
harvest?  behold,  I  say  unto  you,  Lift  up  your  eyes,  and  look 
on  t.he  fields ;  for  they  are  white  already  to  harvest. 


FOR  THE  SINFUL  SOUL 


5i 


And  he  that  reapeth  receiveth  wages,  and  gathereth  fruit 
unto  life  eternal:  that  both  he  that  soweth  and  he  that 
reapeth  may  rejoice  together. 

And  herein  is  that  saying  true,  One  soweth,  and  another 
reapeth. 

I  sent  you  to  reap  that  whereon  ye  bestowed  no  labor : 
other  men  labored,  and  ye  are  entered  into  their  labors. 

And  many  of  the  Samaritans  of  that  city  believed  on  him 
for  the  saying  of  the  woman,  which  testified,  He  told  me 
all  that  ever  I  did. 

So  when  the  Samaritans  were  come  unto  him,  they  besought 
him  that  he  would  tarry  with  them :  and  he  abode  there  two 
days. 

And  many  more  believed  because  of  his  own  word ; 

And  said  unto  the  woman,  Now  we  believe,  not  because  of 
thy  saying:  for  we  have  heard  him  ourselves,  and  know  that 
this  is  indeed  the  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

Prayer 

O  Lord,  our  Christ,  we  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  called 
us  to  he  thy  disciples.  We  know  that  we  are  to  learn  of  thee 
how  to  live  the  spiritual  life.  We  confess  our  ignorance  and 
need  of  being  taught.  In  this  physical  world  our  great  prob¬ 
lem  is,  how  to  adjust  ourselves  to  live  in  health  and  happiness. 
Many  perish  because  they  never  learn.  Thou  must  be  our 
great  Teacher.  We  have  hungers  this  world  cannot  supply, 
appetites  and  instincts  that  crave  the  unseen.  Something 
within  us,  when  we  are  at  our  best,  cries  out  for  God,  the 
living  God.  We  know  what  it  is  to  suffer  from  home-sick¬ 
ness  of  the  soul.  Our  loved  ones  go  out  from  us  and  we  yearn 
to  follow  them,  to  communicate  with  them,  until  our  hearts 
break  with  grief.  Thou  must  teach  us  how  to  possess  our 
souls  in  patience  and  to  abide  in  the  assurance  of  a  great 
faith  that  love  will  not  lose  its  own. 

Help  us  to  understand  this  world  in  which  we  live.  Some¬ 
times  its  wickedness  overwhelms  us.  It  seems  a  low  and 
godless  realm  that  refuses  to  help  men  to  live  at  their  best, 
but  rather  encourages  them  to  live  as  the  beast.  Its  entire 
course  seems  downward,  and  at  times  our  own  feet  seem  to 
slip  along  its  way.  And  yet  we  know  that  men  find  their 
path  to  God.  That  this  world  was  made  to  develop  character 
and  has  a  great  premium  on  righteousness  we  cannot  doubt. 
Thou  hast  taught  us  the  secret  of  spiritual  living,  and  revealed 


52 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


to  us  the  path  of  the  just,  which  shineth  brighter  and  brighter 
even  unto  the  perfect  day.  Teach  us  to  love  this  world  as 
thou  didst  love  it.  Not  to  condemn  it,  and  to  distrust  it, 
but  to  regard  it,  to  seek  to  suffer  for  it,  and  to  live  the 
sacrificial  life  in  it,  for  thereby  we  assist  thee  in  redeeming 
it.  Hold  thou  the  lamp  of  thy  truth  before  our  eager  eyes 
as  we  study  thy  Word.  Amen. 

Introduction 

In  dealing  with  a  sinful  soul  Jesus  became  a  physician 
facing  a  problem  of  diagnosis.  A  sick  soul  must  be  regarded 
as  a  greater  reality  than  a  disease-stricken  body.  For  many 
physical  ailments  are  the  result  of  soul  sickness.  It  is 
vastly  important  that  in  such  a  case  the  cause  of  the  sick¬ 
ness  be  established.  To  say  that  it  is  simply  sin  is  insuffi¬ 
cient  and  frequently  erroneous.  Indeed,  in  the  light  of  modern 
psychology  it  is  sheer  folly.  There  are  many  kinds  of  sins 
that  make  the  soul  sick  as  there  are  many  diseases  that  prey 
upon  the  body.  The  first  great  responsibility  of  a  physician 
of  souls  is  diagnosis.  He  must  believe  in  the  integrity  of  the 
soul  and  the  reality  of  the  spiritual  life.  He  must  acquaint 
himself  with  the  powers  and  normal  existence  of  the  soul. 
He  must  study  a  system  of  treatment  for  souls  diseased.  He 
must  familiarize  himself  with  the  moods  and  expressions  of 
the  soul  that  he  may  readily  discern  its  troubles  and  intuitively 
grasp  an  immediate  treatment.  Doubtless  this  will  appear 
as  a  difficult  task.  It  is  a  delicate  one  that  is  frequently 
bungled. 

In  dealing  with  a  sinful  woman  Jesus  found  himself  con¬ 
fronted  by  a  situation  that  only  a  man  of  his  genius  could 
minister  unto  with  any  degree  of  success.  Souls  when  sick 
become  exceedingly  sensitive.  They  hide  themselves  away. 
They  shield  themselves  by  pretense  and  defend  themselves 
by  prevarication.  To  gain  their  confidence  and  admittance 
to  the  inner  chamber  where  they  dwell  in  broken  and  suffer¬ 
ing  form  requires  an  art  possessed  by  few  men.  However, 
when  their  fears  are  allayed,  confessions  pour  forth  as  the 
natural  expression  of  the  soul,  as  though  in  its  distress  that 
were  the  means  by  which  a  kind  Providence  had  intended  re¬ 
lief  should  come.  The  confession  of  a  sin-sick  soul  in  the 
beginning  broke  the  heart  of  God,  and  for  that  reason  he 


FOR  THE  SINFUL  SOUL 


53 


sent  his  Son  with  power  to  minister  and  to  heal  and  to  re¬ 
deem  men  who  would  place  their  trust  in  him.  It  is  with 
this  particular  ministry  that  we  come  to  follow  Jesus  in  this 
study.  The  woman  of  Samaria  bore  a  soul-sickness  that 
made  her  a  social  outcast  and  affords  us  a  subject  for  the 
study  of  the  evangelism  of  Jesus  as  applied  to  the  defective 
type. 

The  Defective  Type 

There  is  a  type  of  humanity  that  abounds  so  universally 
that  it  must  be  carefully  defined  in  order  to  be  understood. 
We  shall  call  it  the  Defective  Type.  All  men  are  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree  defective,  either  morally,  or  physically, 
or  mentally.  The  physical  defective  must  be  dealt  with  by 
surgery,  medicine,  and  charity.  The  mental  defective  must 
be  studied  by  the  psychologist  and  given  his  classification  by 
the  alienist.  The  moral  defective  may  be  a  problem  for 
state  and  church,  a  subject  of  correction  and  spiritual  regen¬ 
eration.  In  this  field  lies  the  most  serious  interest.  Moral 
defect  may  be  congenital.  It  may  be  produced.  It  indicates 
a  lack  of  moral  certainty  and  poise.  By  nature  it  may  be  a 
flaw  in  the  personality  itself.  Such  a  man  cannot  see  straight 
morally,  cannot  make  fine  ethical  distinctions,  cannot  inwardly 
respond  to  high  appeal.  However,  in  few,  if  in  any,  cases 
are  the  elemental  spiritual  instincts  wanting.  They  require 
stronger  moral  stimuli  to  call  them  into  action  and  a  miracle 
of  regeneration  to  bring  them  into  recognition  and  control. 

In  the  matter  of  moral  defects,  produced  by  a  man’s 
careless  living  or  intellectual  miscalculation,  there  is  a  wide 
range  for  study.  The  Holy  Scriptures  would  gather  them  up 
under  one  classification  and  characterize  them  as  sin.  How¬ 
ever,  Jesus  in  dealing  with  them  individually  always  made 
a  distinction,  as  though  he  accepted  the  dictum,  “There  are 
sinners,  and  there  are  sinners.”  Individual  men  are  sinners 
in  their  own  way,  and  they  cannot  be  wholesaled  either  into 
perdition  or  into  the  redeemed  life.  Jesus  dealt  with  them 
according  to  the  type  wherein  they  were  most  easily  classified ; 
but  his  own  intuitive  judgment  led  him  to  diagnose  each  in¬ 
dividual  case  according  to  the  extent  and  character  of  moral 
and  spiritual  defect.  In  every  instance  his  treatment  is  simple, 
and  seems  always  varied  to  the  limit  of  inexact  form. 


54 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


The  Moral  Approach 

In  seeking  an  approach  to  a  sick  soul  it  must  always  be 
ascertained  whether  the  ailment  is  dispositional  or  physical. 
Sometimes  the  trouble  may  be  only  of  the  disposition,  and  will 
readily  lend  itself  to  correction;  but  if  it  has  gone  on  until 
it  has  caused  physical  lesion  of  some  kind,  then  the  task  is 
most  difficult.  In  all  cases  where  the  soul-sickness  has  a 
physical  basis  the  means  of  approach  must  be  that  which 
will  reach  the  moral  conscience.  The  approach  of  the  moral 
judgment  and  the  moral  will  in  every  such  case  will  fail.  The 
conscience  seeks  to  control  what  a  man  places  into  action. 
It,  if  obeyed,  determines  the  quality  of  a  man’s  action,  the 
moral  judgment  of  what  he  thinks,  and  the  moral  will  of 
what  he  executes  under  pressure  of  a  great  decision.  When 
a  soul  goes  wrong,  falls  and  brings  upon  itself  the  suffer¬ 
ing  of  a  violated  conscience,  there  is  but  one  approach  by 
which  it  can  be  reached.  That  must  be  regarded  as  the  way 
over  which  the  consciousness  of  sin  is  produced.  It  is  the 
moral  approach  because  it  seeks  to  bring  the  soul  to  a  will¬ 
ingness  to  lay  the  moral  emphasis  on  the  life ;  that  is,  to  ac¬ 
centuate  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong  and  exercise  the  will 
in  drawing  the  line  definitely  between  that  which  the  con¬ 
science  condemns  and  that  which  it  approves.  However,  when 
this  process  begins  to  operate  on  a  soul  there  appears  re¬ 
sistance  and  great  agitation.  Suffering  from  the  wounds  con¬ 
science  has  made  it  seeks  to  conceal  itself,  justify  its  action, 
and  repudiate  its  past.  When  lured  out  of  its  inner  shrine 
and  confidently  led  to  betray  itself,  the  first  consciousness  it 
has  speaks  forth  in  the  words,  “Come,  see  a  man  which 
told  me  all  things  that  ever  I  did;  is  not  that  the  Christ?” 
Over  the  moral  approach  the  place  where  a  man’s  life  has 
broken  with  his  past  is  reached  and  the  entire  life  passes  under 
the  process  of  redemption. 

Initial  Evangelism 

It  is  fundamental  that  we  should  understand  initial  evan¬ 
gelism.  It  deals  with  the  beginnings  of  evangelistic  pro¬ 
cedure.  It  leads  us  to  inquire  as  to  the  first  stages  of 
evangelism.  Where  does  it  commence?  What  is  it  at  the 
last  analysis?  Where  are  the  lowest  levels  of  its  opera- 


FOR  THE  SINFUL  SOUL 


55 


tions?  Can  its  ramifications  be  traced  back  to  a  fundamental? 
In  its  inextricable  complexity  can  it  be  reduced  to  a  sim¬ 
plicity?  What  is  the  initiatory  degree  from  which  the  full 
operation  of  Jesus’s  evangelism  manifests  itself?  What  type 
of  men  require  initial  evangelism?  In  essential  evangelism 
the  fundamentals  of  the  content  of  a  teaching  or  a  doctrine 
are  presented.  In  initial  evangelism  not  thought,  but  action 
is  presented.  It  calls  for  the  first  step.  It  produces  reaction 
to  the  spiritual  command,  “About  face.”  It  deals  with  that 
act  which  turns  the  life  and  faces  it  the  right  way.  It  calls 
into  action  the  will,  producing  that  experience  in  the  soul 
known  as  conversion. 

With  the  morally  defective  type  initial  methods  are  the 
only  effective  ones,  for  the  following  reasons : 

First.  They  go  back  to  the  beginning  and  start  a  man  on 
another  way  of  living. 

Second.  They  apply  to  the  course  of  a  man’s  doing  rather 
than  to  his  thinking. 

Third.  They  articulate  a  man’s  past  with  his  present  and 
predict  his  future,  producing  a  unity  of  feeling  without  which 
a  man  cannot  find  God. 

Fourth.  They  establish  a  connection  with  Christ’s  trans¬ 
forming  power  and  send  the  individual  forward  with  newly 
discovered  moral  energy. 

A  thorough  application  of  the  methods  of  initial  evan¬ 
gelism  guarantees  that  the  individual  soul  starts  his  Chris¬ 
tian  life  at  the  right  place.  It  also  brings  the  assurance 
that  the  soul,  once  securely  on  the  way  of  Christ,  finds  a 
peace  and  joy,  an  abundance  of  life,  and  a  source  of  abound¬ 
ing  spiritual  energy  that  enables  faith  to  bear  it  up  under  the 
most  violent  attacks  of  doubt  and  adversity.  Initial  evan¬ 
gelism  brings  a  man  into  the  Kingdom  of  heaven,  from  the 
wilds  of  sin,  through  the  strait  gate  which  marks  the  place 
of  separation  between  his  past  life  and  that  which  he  is 
destined  to  live  in  and  with  Christ. 

Initial  evangelism  is  confined  to  the  moral  approach.  Of 
all  advances  made  upon  the  soul  this  is  the  most  direct.  It 
raises  intellectual  questions  only  as  they  are  related  to  action. 
It  does  not  seek  to  produce  states  of  mind  but  of  heart.  Its 
purpose  is  to  lead  to  the  capture  of  the  citadel  of  the  affec¬ 
tions.  It  works  upon  the  understanding  that  moral  impres¬ 
sions  survive  only  as  they  are  accentuated  with  definiteness. 


56 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


That  they  must  be  more  than  thought,  they  must  become 
experience,  for  it  is  the  nature  of  thought  to  be  static;  it  is 
that  of  experience  to  be  dynamic.  At  the  last  analysis,  it  is 
avowed,  the  initial  step  in  the  evangelism  of  Jesus  is  a 
moment  when  there  is  a  surrender  of  will,  a  renunciation 
without  reserve  of  what  has  been  cherished  and  valued,  issu¬ 
ing  into  an  habitual  and  joyous  self-denial.  For  there  is  an 
experience  without  which  no  man  can  be  a  Christian.  There 
is  an  hour  of  awakening  in  which  the  spiritual  world  becomes 
a  supreme  reality.  The  moral  approach  produces  that  hour. 
Here  the  method  is  not  slack,  but  stringent ;  delicate,  but 
always  courageous.  It  awakens  the  soul  by  creating  feeling. 
It  antagonizes  and  soothes ;  it  encroaches  and  ambuscades. 
It  forces  a  surrender  by  the  inexorable  alternative — Christ  or 
Despair. 

The  Conversion  of  the  Woman  of  Samaria 

In  dealing  with  the  woman  of  Samaria,  Jesus  used  the 
methods  of  initial  evangelism.  She  was  a  woman  rated  as  a 
typical  sinner.  Iniquity  had  made  her  a  social  and  religious 
outcast.  She  was  unlike  Nathanael  in  that  her  inner  life 
had  been  reduced  almost  to  the  point  of  extinction.  She 
had  forgotten  the  places  of  prayer  and  meditation.  They 
were  to  her  a  hazy  memory.  She  had  forsaken  the  ties 
that  bound  her  to  her  father’s  family.  She  was  a  moral 
derelict.  She  was  also  of  an  opposite  type  from  Nicodemus. 
She  could  not  speak  for  her  group,  for  her  kind,  for  her 
class.  She  could  not  voice  a  note  of  authority,  nor  speak  of 
any  associated  life  until  Jesus  touched  her.  The  only  expres¬ 
sion  she  could  make  was  that  of  her  prejudices  and  ill  feeling. 
She  stood  apart  and  alone,  without  any  perceptible  affiliations 
aside  from  those  who  were  companions  with  her  in  sin. 
Nicodemus  valued  his  birth  and  position;  these  were  as 
naught  to  her.  Family  name  and  good  heredity  had  small 
place  in  her  thought.  Her  life  of  moral  carelessness  had 
robbed  her  of  her  social  rating.  She  was  an  outcast  and 
valueless. 

She  needed  to  have  four  things  done  for  her: 

First.  She  had  divorced  her  past,  no  longer  recalled  it. 
She  must  realize  it  as  an  indispensable  part  of  her  life.  For 
Christian  salvation  demands  that  a  man  shall  accept  his  past, 


FOR  THE  SINFUL  SOUL 


57 


and  with  it,  through  faith  in  Christ,  build  an  upright  charac¬ 
ter.  For  men  and  women,  to  be  able  to  see  where  they  are 
going  they  must  realize  from  whence  they  came. 

Second.  She  must  be  brought  to  revalue  her  relation  to  the 
social  and  religious  groups.  An  unrelated  individual  cannot 
enjoy  the  favor  of  Christian  fellowship.  There  are  groups 
of  devotion  and  prayer  which  are  of  incalculable  value.  There 
are  lines  of  birth  and  ancestry  that  relate  individuals  to  a 
definite  past,  and  furnish  supports  for  the  future  which  are 
indispensable  to  moral  and  intellectual  integrity. 

Third.  She  must  be  brought  to  ground  her  faith  in  the 
spiritual  hope  of  Israel.  On  this  rested  the  foundation  of 
the  religious  life  of  her  people.  She  must  be  brought  back 
to  it  and  upon  it  begin  the  building  of  her  future  life. 

Fourth.  She  must  be  brought  to  realize  that  hope  in  Jesus 
of  Nazareth. 

Only  a  Man  of  Delicate  Sensibilities  could  have  crossed 
the  distance  that  separated  the  soul  of  the  woman  of 
Samaria  from  the  Hope  of  Israel.  As  a  wrongdoer,  moral 
sensitiveness  was  keen  and  combative.  Four  almost  insur¬ 
mountable  prejudices  surrounded  her,  wrhich  Jesus  overcame: 

First.  As  a  woman,  he  met  the  barrier  of  sex  prejudice. 
He  could  not  without  difficulty,  as  a  stranger,  speak  to  her 
in  a  public  place. 

Second.  As  a  Samaritan  woman,  he  met  the  wall  of  race 
prejudice.  He  could  not  approach  her  with  any  greeting, 
for  the  Jews  had  nothing  to  do  with  their  Samaritan  cousins. 
He  could  not  with  propriety  even  speak  to  her.  To  ask  a 
favor  was  an  offense. 

Third.  As  a  poor  woman,  he  met  the  distance  of  social 
prejudice.  It  was  a  matter  of  condescension  for  a  self- 
respecting  man  to  stoop  to  speak  to  a  woman  without  social 
rating  and  moral  value.  She  would  resent  it  perchance  as 
an  insult. 

Fourth.  As  a  fallen  woman,  he  met  deep  and  ingrained 
moral  prejudice.  When  men  and  women  are  in  wickedness, 
they  think  other  people  are  seeking  the  same  thing  as  them¬ 
selves.  The  pure  seek  their  kind,  and  the  same  thing  may  be 
said  of  the  impure.  It  is  a  delicate  and  perilous  thing  for 
a  good  man  to  approach  a  fallen  woman  even  with  good 
intentions.  Moral  prejudice  is  sensitive  and  recalcitrant,  fre- 


58 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


quently  causing  trouble  where  only  good  should  appear.  It 
is  too  often  supported  by  a  narrow  religious  prejudice  that 
fears  and  dreads  in  the  spirit  of  the  Pharisee,  who  thanked 
God  that  he  was  not  as  other  men  are. 

In  seeking  to  surmount  these  four  prejudices,  Jesus  dis¬ 
plays  a  knowledge  of  the  soul  seldom  possessed  by  men. 

He  overcame  sex  prejudice  by  approaching  her  with  a 
human  frankness,  and  not  turning  his  back  on  her,  refusing 
to  speak  because  she  was  a  strange  woman.  Social  formality 
on  some  levels  of  life  is  resented  with  bitterness.  Confidence, 
openness,  broadmindedness  always  are  welcomed.  They  are 
human.  Jesus  spoke  to  her  though  a  stranger. 

Before  his  need  race  prejudice  vanished.  He  asked  her, 
a  Samaritan  woman,  to  do  him  a  kindness,  give  him  to  drink. 
It  had  been  the  habit  of  a  Samaritan  when  a  Jerusalem  Jew 
asked  bread  to  give  him  a  stone.  Hence,  few  favors  were 
expected.  He  asked  a  cup  of  water,  threw  aside  any  preju¬ 
dice  he  might  have  had,  and  found  a  ready  response  from 
her. 

He  entered  into  conversation  with  her  and  banished  social 
prejudice.  He  was  willing  to  show  her  consideration. 
Socially  she  might  have  been  different,  but  she  was  a  human 
being.  She  knew  the  pangs  of  hunger  and  the  enjoyment  of 
friendship.  She  would  not  permit  her  prejudice  to  close  her 
heart  against  anyone  who  was  frank  and  kind  in  word.  Her 
retort,  “How  is  it  that  thou,  being  a  Jew,  askest  drink  of 
me,  which  am  a  woman  of  Samaria  ?”  That  was  sensitive 
and  ingrained  prejudice,  but  it  was  frank,  and  free  from 
deceit.  It  revealed  the  very  inner  chamber  of  her  heart.  All 
Jesus  wanted  was  a  heart  opening.  He  knew  how  to  gain 
entrance. 

Still  another  prejudice  remained — that  of  morality  and  reli¬ 
gion.  The  heart-door  stood  ajar.  A  woman’s  heart  is  always 
responsive  to  curiosity.  He  touches  that  instinct,  “If  thou 
knewest  the  gift  of  God,  and  who  it  is  that  saith  unto  thee, 
Give  me  to  drink ;  thou  wouldest  have  asked  him,  and  he 
would  have  given  thee  living  water.”  That  was  sufficient. 
The  hurt  of  sin  had  been  exceedingly  painful,  but  this  deal¬ 
ing  of  sympathy  won  its  way.  The  woman’s  prejudices  were 
gone,  and  she  was  ready  to  listen  to  him  with  profound 
sympathy. 

While  Jesus  was  gaining  her  attention,  he  was  also  making 


FOR  THE  SINFUL  SOUL 


59 


his  approach  into  her  heart.  This  was  accomplished  by  three 
direct  appeals : 

First.  An  appeal  to  her  sense  of  God — “If  thou  knewest 
the  gift  of  God.”  The  value  of  this  appeal  in  dealing  with 
men  and  women  in  sin  should  be  regarded  as  fundamental. 
The  moral  sense  of  God  is  ineradicable.  It  will  arrest  atten¬ 
tion,  quiet  combativeness,  and  start  the  higher  impulses 
quicker  than  any  other  appeal.  The  soul  in  sin  loses  its 
power  to  react  to  all  other  moral  values,  but  never  to  the 
thought  of  God. 

Second.  An  appeal  to  her  sense  of  mystery— “If  thou  knew¬ 
est  who  ...  it  is  that  saith  to  thee,  Give  me  to  drink.” 
The  mystery  of  the  Man  speaking  aroused  that  strange  power 
in  her  soul  called  wonder.  This  spreads  like  a  warm  atmos¬ 
phere  through  the  nature,  dispelling  all  coldness. 

Third.  An  appeal  to  an  inner  impulse. — “Thou  wouldest 
have  asked  of  him,  and  he  would  have  given  thee  living 
water” — an  impulse  to  experience  the  drinking  of  a  new 
water.  Truth  is  of  small  value  to  the  soul  unless  with  it  can 
be  aroused  an  impulse  to  experience  it. 

Jesus  was  a  master  psychologist,  as  though  he  read  at  first 
hand  the  directions  to  the  inner  shrine  of  a  human  soul. 
The  water  in  Jacob’s  Well  was  valued  by  all  the  people  of 
the  land.  It  was  one  of  the  sacred  show  places.  Blessed 
was  he  who  had  drunken  of  its  waters.  Jesus  held  up  in 
contrast  his  wonder  water.  He  characterized  it  as  living 
water.  It  produced  four  unique  effects  in  those  who  drank 
it : 

First.  It  slakes  the  thirst  so  that  one  drinking  it  never 
thirsts  again.  Wonder  of  wonders  to  people  living  in  a 
country  where  water  supply  is  short  and  uncertain ! 

Second.  It  is  an  inner  well.  Strange  mystery!  Mystical 
fact  wrought  in  a  sense  of  reality!  Wonder  water  that  only 
the  camel  of  the  desert  can  appreciate. 

Third.  An  inner  well  of  water,  springing  up,  maintaining 
an  inner  freshness  of  life,  for  which  all  sensible  men  pray. 

Fourth.  An  inner  life  of  freshness,  which  expresses  itself 
in  outer,  immortal  youth — “springing  up  into  everlasting 
life.” 

This  was  surely  enough  to  stir  the  woman’s  thirst  for  a 
water  Jacob’s  Well  could  not  give,  and  for  a  life  that  did  not 
come  from  his  line.  She  is  ready  to  receive  what  Jesus  has 


6o 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


to  give.  “Sir,  give  me  this  water,  that  I  thirst  not,  neither 
come  hither  to  draw.”  Having  reached  the  inner  circle  of 
her  being,  Jesus  now  has  opportunity  to  touch  the  sin  that 
has  caused  her  alienation  from  God.  He  may  now  safely 
command  her  to  obey  him  in  a  matter  for  further  informa¬ 
tion.  He  saith  unto  her,  “Go,  call  thy  husband,  and  come 
hither.”  For  when  one  meets  Christ,  the  entire  life  must 
be  brought  up,  the  past  as  well  as  the  absent  present.  In  the 
thought  of  a  husband  rested  a  darkness  she  did  not  care 
to  reveal.  She  answered,  shortly,  “I  have  no  husband,”  no 
doubt  thinking  that  would  end  it.  But  Jesus,  with  keen  insight 
replied,  “Thou  hast  well  said,  I  have  no  husband :  for  thou 
hast  had  five  husbands ;  and  he  whom  thou  now  hast  is  not 
thy  husband.”  The  realities  of  the  woman’s  life  were  laid 
bare.  They  were  facts  of  shame,  from  which  she  shrank 
with  a  consciousness  of  weakness  and  condemnation.  She 
recovers  through  the  feeling  that  he,  a  stranger,  could  not 
know  them  without  being  a  prophet.  She  answers,  “Sir, 
I  perceive  that  thou  art  a  prophet.”  And  introduces  a  sub¬ 
ject  for  discussion.  “Our  fathers  worshiped  in  this  moun¬ 
tain;  and  ye  say,  that  in  Jerusalem  is  the  place  where  men 
ought  to  worship.”  With  Nicodemus,  the  subject  for  discus¬ 
sion  was  the  new  birth ;  with  the  woman  of  Samaria  it  is  the 
place  of  worship.  To  a  Samaritan  no  question  could  be  more 
worthy  of  a  prophet’s  decision  than  the  settlement  of  the 
religious  center  of  the  world.  Thus  the  difficulty  which  is 
proposed  is  not  a  diversion,  but  the  natural  thought  of  one 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  Interpreter  of  the  divine  will. 
It  led  away  from  personal  consideration.  It  drew  her  in 
line  with  the  fathers,  and  expressed  a  realization  of  the  race 
consciousness  that  would  loose  the  individual  and  his  need 
to  further  consideration.  When  Jesus  answered,  he  uses 
“Father”  as  over  against  her  word  “fathers,”  and  brings  the 
thought  back  to  the  individualistic  level.  “Woman,  believe 
me,  the  hour  cometh,  when  ye  shall  neither  in  this  mountain, 
nor  yet  at  Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father.”  Then  he  launches 
into  a  discussion  of  worship  that  carries  her  beyond  her 
intellectual  depths.  He  eliminates  the  disputed  question  of 
worship,  but  emphasizes  the  fact  that  “salvation  is  of  the 
Jews,”  and  assures  her  that  the  “true  worshipers  shall  wor¬ 
ship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth;  for  the  Father  seeketh 
such  to  worship  him.” 


FOR  THE  SINFUL  SOUL 


61 


Then,  passing  from  the  idea  of  worship  to  that  of  God, 
he  declares :  “God  is  a  Spirit :  and  they  that  worship  him 
must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.”  The  woman  is 
bewildered,  cannot  follow  him  further,  and  throws  herself 
back  on  the  hope  of  her  people,  “I  know  that  Messias  cometh, 
which  is  called  Christ :  when  he  is  come,  he  will  tell  us  all 
things.”  That  was  the  goal  toward  which  Jesus  had  been 
moving.  They  had  arrived.  Her  heart  was  open.  Hope 
ready  to  welcome,  faith  waiting  to  receive.  He  replied,  “I 
that  speak  unto  thee  am  he.”  The  surprise,  the  confession 
of  faith,  the  joy  of  the  woman’s  heart  are  lost  to  the  reader; 
for  at  this  point  the  disciples  arrive  from  their  visit  to  the 
city  to  purchase  provisions.  The  woman  departs  with  this 
resolve,  to  bid  the  people  “Come,  see  a  man,  which  told  me 
all  things  that  ever  I  did:  is  not  this  the  Christ?”  She  had 
found  Him  “of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the  prophets, 
did  write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph.”  And  with 
Nathanael  she  could  say,  “Rabbi,  thou  art  the  Son  of  God; 
thou  art  the  King  of  Israel.” 

In  Jesus’s  dealing  with  this  woman  of  sin  there  are  at  least 
three  things  that  must  be  dwelt  upon : 

1.  He  does  not  mention  sin.  He  makes  no  effort  to  trace 
it  down  and  condemn  it.  He  simply  opens  the  life,  knowing 
that  when  the  higher  instincts  are  released  they  will  furnish 
motive  for  conscience  to  do  its  work  of  condemnation  and 
correction. 

2.  He  does  not  offer  God’s  plan  for  dealing  with  sinful 
souls.  Why  did  he  not  mention  the  doctrine  of  the  new 
birth?  If  any  one  with  whom  he  had  to  deal  needed  to  be 
born  from  above  she  was  that  one.  Upon  thought  the  answer 
is  obvious.  He  could  not  talk  to  her  about  the  new  birth : 
First,  because  the  family  meant  nothing  to  her.  Second,  be¬ 
cause  it  was  along  the  line  of  the  family  that  lay  her  great 
offense.  She  had  blasted  the  purpose  of  the  family.  She 
had  misused  the  birth  function  until  it  had  no  high  mean¬ 
ing  for  her.  The  holiest  thing  in  a  woman’s  life  is  power 
to  give  life.  The  love  of  one  man  makes  the  birth  of  a  child 
a  function  presided  over  by  Deity,  and  the  one  cherished  as 
of  the  most  precious  value.  But  for  her  the  conception  of 
birth  carried  no  spiritual  content.  Jesus  could  not  lead  her 
to  realize  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  through  the  doctrine 
of  the  new  birth. 


62 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


3.  He  brings  the  woman  where  he  can  reveal  to  her  the 
fulfillment  of  the  hope  of  Israel — the  promised  Messiah.  In 
doing  this  his  evangelistic  method  supports  the  statement  that 
Christ  the  Messiah  is  central  in  all  evangelistic  effort.  No 
matter  what  other  interests  may  arise,  or  doctrine  demand 
discussion ;  no  matter  how  far  distant  the  soul  may  be — the 
way  upward  is  not  struck  until  Christ  is  reached.  He 
occupies  a  unique  centrality,  past  which  all  souls  must  go 
on  their  quest  of  God  the  Father.  It  is  based  on  a  previously 
stated  truth,  that  He  is  the  expression  of  the  emotional  life 
of  a  personal  God.  He  is  the  Divine,  manifesting  himself 
as  mercy  and  love.  The  full  measure  of  his  life  is  found  in 
the  words,  “God  so  loved.”  In  this  respect  he  is  Deity.  There 
was  a  cause  for  this  manifestation  of  Holy  love.  It  must 
have  been  more  than  that  which  would  demand  affection. 
It  was  a  necessity,  that  required  action,  vigorous,  full  expres¬ 
sion  of  itself,  love  for  an  object  that  would  perish  without  it. 
That  condition  was  a  state  of  sin  into  which  the  sons  of  men 
had  passed,  and  from  which  they  must  be  saved  by  a  quicken¬ 
ing  of  faith  in  God.  Christ  came  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  that 
men  might  have  a  manifestation  of  the  heavenly  Father. 
Without  that  manifestation  they  have  nothing  on  which 
to  place  their  faith.  Christ,  then,  was  manifest  to  requicken 
the  lost  power  of  faith.  It  is  the  means  of  salvation,  not 
because  all  others  have  failed,  but  because  it  is  the  only  one 
and  never  fails.  It  brings  this  assurance,  that  he  who,  on 
account  of  his  sins,  cannot  render  unto  God  the  full  obedience 
of  faith,  is  by  what  faith  he  has  identified  with  Christ,  who 
is  the  righteousness  of  God  for  sinful  men,  and  he  receives 
through  this  identification  the  increasing  power  of  sonship. 
With  the  woman  of  Samaria  we  come  to  stand  at  the  same 
place  as  with  Nathanael  and  Nicodemus — Christ,  the  mani¬ 
festation  of  God,  without  the  higher  life  of  Sonship,  finds  no 
human  realization.  There  is  no  Divine  sonship  for  man  apart 
from  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Jesus,  in  His  Evangelistic  Approach,  works  upon  a  clearly 
defined  conception  of  sin.  To  him  there  were  degrees  of 
distance  from  God,  but  all  men  were  more  or  less  alienated 
from  him  by  wrongdoing.  In  dealing  with  the  woman  of 
Samaria  he  had  almost  unsurmountable  barriers  to  overcome. 
The  course  of  action  he  adopted  was  simple,  and  his  direct 


FOR  THE  SINFUL  SOUL 


63 


dealing  has  been  the  wonder  of  men  from  that  day  to  this. 
How  did  he  seem  to  conceive  of  men  as  being  in  sin?  He 
made  two  classifications.  To  him  men  were  either  good  or 
bad.  He  knew  no  medium  ground  where  a  man  was  morally 
colorless.  To  him  sin  was  not  a  matter  of  degrees.  It  was 
a  disease.  He  likened  it  unto  leprosy.  A  man  is  a  leper  if  he 
has  one  germ  of  that  dread  disease  in  his  blood.  It  is  not  a 
matter  of  the  extent  to  which  it  has  worked  its  ravages.  Some 
men  are  so  morally  inactive,  so  void  of  positiveness,  so  poised 
in  self-control,  so  hedged  about  by  respectability,  so  eminently 
self-contained  that  they  seem  a  problem  of  classification.  They 
appear  to  be  neither  good  nor  bad.  They  are  not  righteous, 
neither  are  they  iniquitous.  They  are  not  good  enough  for 
heaven,  neither  are  they  bad  enough  for  hell.  The  modern 
man  is  prone  to  make  a  third  classification  for  these  men, 
and  claim  for  them  some  kind  of  a  special  judgment  at  the 
end. 

It  is  well  for  us  to  remember  that  there  are  three  kinds 
of  sinners,  and  that  all  must  be  saved  through  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ : 

First.  Sinners  of  the  passions  and  appetites  of  the  flesh. 
Among  these  should  be  classed  the  woman  of  Samaria.  We 
have  no  difficulty  in  dealing  with  those  of  this  color.  We 
can  quickly  dispose  of  them.  Drunkards,  and  harlots,  and 
adulterers,  and  gluttons,  and  winebibbers  easily  find  their 
classification.  Without  hesitancy  we  call  them  sinners,  who 
need  to  be  saved  by  faith  in  Christ.  There  can  be  no  room 
for  doubt  here. 

Second.  Sinners  of  disposition.  Among  these  Nicodemus 
finds  his  place.  He  was  a  man  of  pride  and  personal  ex¬ 
clusiveness.  He  was  set  about  by  race  and  religious  preju¬ 
dices,  all  based  on  the  inner  consciousness  that  he  was  of 
the  ruling  class  of  Israel.  A  dispositional  sinner  may  be  free 
from  all  perceptible  sins  of  the  flesh.  He  may  walk  cir¬ 
cumspectly  before  men.  He  may  be  as  upright  as  society 
requires  of  its  most  trusted  citizens,  but  on  his  dispositional 
side  all  wrong.  He  is  cross  and  violent  at  times,  showing 
what  is  in  him  when  he  loses  control  of  himself.  He  is  hard 
and  Pharisaical  in  dealing  with  his  brothers,  but  he  never 
becomes  drunken  and  shocks  his  neighbor’s  moral  sense.  He 
never  consorts  with  harlots  and  vicious  men.  And  yet  he 
is  a  sinner  who  needs  Christ  to  save  him  from  bigotry, 


64 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


hardness,  and  a  godless  life  just  as  much  as  some  outbreak¬ 
ing  sinner  who  disturbs  the  community  with  his  wrongdoing. 

Third.  The  mystical  sinners.  Among  these  may  be  classi¬ 
fied  Nathanael,  the  guileless  one  of  the  fig  tree.  These  men, 
as  far  as  personal  morals  are  concerned,  are  flawless.  They 
are  without  sin.  They  pray.  They  meditate.  They  shut 
themselves  up  to  spiritual  experiences.  They  claim  great 
moments  with  God.  They  have  a  wonderful  testimony  of  his 
revelation  of  himself  to  them.  They  become  other-worldly. 
They  come  not  to  love  the  world  nor  the  things  of  the  world. 
They  know  not  of  its  wickedness,  neither  of  its  sorrow. 
They  go  their  way,  inwardly  rejoicing  that  they  are  not  as 
other  men  are,  and  their  guilelessness  becomes  their  condem¬ 
nation  ;  for  a  man  reaches  the  holiness  that  pleases  the  God 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  not  by  guilelessness  alone,  but  by  a 
life  that  renounces  its  past  and  goes  forth  into  a  field  of  action 
and  ministry.  How  would  Nathanael  have  fared  on  that 
way  with  his  religion  of  meditation?  The  royal  way  of  the 
cross,  the  way  that  Jesus  trod,  is  the  only  one  that  leads  man 
home  to  God.  He  fell  on  that  way  thrice  beneath  the  burden 
of  his  cross.  He  continued  unto  the  end,  and  drank  the  dregs 
of  the  cup  of  bitterness.  It  was  the  way  of  Him  who  said, 
“If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and 
take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me.  For  whosoever  will  save 
his  life  shall  lose  it:  and  whosoever  will  lose  his  life  for  my 
sake  shall  find  it.” 

It  Is  the  Purpose  of  Initial  Evangelism  to  start  every 
soul  at  the  right  place.  The  failure  of  Samaritan  religion, 
as  this  woman  at  the  well  of  Jacob  seemed  to  understand  it, 
was  at  four  points : 

First.  It  was  provincial.  It  provided  for  the  Samaritans’ 
wants.  Kept  them  in  mind  in  all  operations  of  Providence. 

Second.  It  was  hedged  about  by  prejudice.  We  have  noth¬ 
ing  to  do  with  the  Jerusalem  Jews.  If  Jehovah  is  to  be  our 
God,  he  must  come  to  us.  We  will  not  go  to  Jerusalem. 

Third.  It  located  God — “worshiped  in  this  mountain”:  as 
those  who  say  God  is  in  a  prayer  book,  in  a  certain  particular 
kind  of  offering,  in  this  creed,  in  this  phylactery,  in  this  kind 
of  an  experience,  in  this  church,  in  this  denomination,  in  this 
nation.  This  is  Samaritan  religion. 

Fourth.  It  had  no  objective  element.  The  question  of  wor- 


FOR  THE  SINFUL  SOUL 


65 


ship  was  its  large  problem  for  the  prophets  to  pronounce 
upon.  The  most  outstanding  impression  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
made  on  the  woman  of  Samaria,  indeed,  the  one  that  con¬ 
vinced  her  that  he  was  the  Christ,  was  the  fact  that  he  told 
her  all  that  she  ever  did. 

Christianity  is  a  religion  of  doing.  It  demands  for  itself 
a  place  to  begin.  Its  starting  is  not  hazy  and  indefinite.  It 
requires  the  open  world  for  its  realization.  When  men  hear 
of  a  religion  based  upon  faith  they  prepare  to  give  it  room 
to  work  its  way  out  in  human  relations.  For  faith  controlling 
a  man  presupposes  ability  to  seize  opportunity  for  achieve¬ 
ment,  before  which  others  are  impotent. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  CLASS  STUDY 

1.  What  is  a  defective  type? 

2.  What  is  a  moral  approach? 

3.  Characterize  initial  evangelism. 

4.  What  four  things  did  the  woman  of  Samaria  need  to 
have  done  for  her? 

5.  What  four  prejudices  stood  between  the  woman  and 
Jesus?  How  did  he  overcome  them? 

6.  What  three  direct  appeals  did  Jesus  make  to  her? 

7.  Characterize  the  “living  water”  of  Jesus. 

8.  In  Jesus’s  dealing  with  the  woman,  what  three  things 
must  not  be  forgotten? 

9.  Why  did  Jesus  fail  to  give  this  woman  the  truth  of  the 
new  birth? 

10.  Name  the  three  kinds  of  sinners? 

11.  What  was  Jesus’s  conception  of  sin? 

12.  Where  does  initial  evangelism  begin? 

13.  How  near  did  Jesus  bring  this  woman  to  discipleship? 

14.  What  was  the  deepest  impression  Jesus  made  upon  her? 

15.  What  did  the  woman  of  Samaria  find  in  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  ? 


The  foes  of  Christianity,  seeing  only  the  restraints  and 
restrictions  imposed  on  the  individual,  seeing  only  in  the 
teaching  of  Christ  the  antithesis  of  their  ideal  of  boundless 
individual  expansion,  have  entirely  neglected  to  take  into 
account  the  social  significance  of  such  restrictions.  We  must 
never  neglect  to  consider  the  double  aspect  of  Christianity 
as  an  instrument  at  once  of  social  and  of  individual  develop¬ 
ment.  We  must  not  neglect  to  consider  the  rights  and  duties 
recognized  by  Christianity  as  appertaining  alike  to  society 
and  to  the  individual.  Only  when  we  consider  it  as  realizing 
an  equilibrium  between  social  and  individual  interests  can 
we  hope  to  judge  rightly  of  its  value. — Chatterton-Hill. 


CHAPTER  IV 


For  the  Importunate  Soul 

The  Afflicted  Type 
The  Physical  Approach 
Collective  Evangelism 
The  Conversion  of  Blind  Bartimaeus 

Scripture:  Mark  io.  46-52 

And  they  came  to  Jericho:  and  as  he  went  out  of  Jericho 
with  his  disciples  and  a  great  number  of  people,  blind 
Bartimaeus,  the  son  of  Timaeus,  sat  by  the  highway  side  beg¬ 
ging. 

And  when  he  heard  that  it  was  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  he  began 
to  cry  out,  and  say,  Jesus,  thou  son  of  David,  have  mercy 
on  me. 

And  many  charged  him  that  he  should  hold  his  peace :  but 
he  cried  the  more  a  great  deal,  Thou  son  of  David,  have 
mercy  on  me. 

And  Jesus  stood  still,  and  commanded  him  to  be  called. 
And  they  call  the  blind  man,  saying  unto  him,  Be  of  good 
comfort,  rise ;  he  calleth  thee. 

And  he,  casting  away  his  garment,  rose,  and  came  to  Jesus. 

And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  What  wilt  thou 
that  I  should  do  unto  thee?  The  blind  man  said  unto  him, 
Lord,  that  I  might  receive  my  sight. 

And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Go  thy  way;  thy  faith  hath  made 
thee  whole.  And  immediately  he  received  his  sight,  and 
followed  Jesus  in  the  way. 

Prayer 

We  thank  thee,  0  Lord,  that  thou  dost  hear  the  prayer 
of  a  sincere  and  upright  heart.  We  know  that  when  we 
come  to  thee,  earnestly  seeking  thy  forgiveness  and  the 
strengthening  of  our  moral  purpose,  thou  wilt  not  fail  to 

69 


;o 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


attend  unto  the  voice  of  our  prayer.  We  rejoice  in  this 
assurance.  It  gives  us  boldness  to  enter  into  thy  presence  and 
to  ask  for  those  things  needful  to  make  us  more  like  Christ. 
We  do  not  always  possess  a  fullness  of  the  spirit  of  devo¬ 
tion.  At  times  we  pray  with  our  lips,  repeating  words  that 
carry  little  meaning  and  no  desire  of  soul  on  our  part.  Our 
hearts  fail  to  respond  to  the  call  of  the  Spirit.  They  are 
listless,  cold,  and  turn  toward  other  things.  In  such  an  hour 
thou  hast  taught  us  that  the  heart  does  not  control,  but 
rather  the  will.  Then  we  call  resolution  to  command  our 
souls  to  worship  thee,  and  sincerely  come  into  thy  presence 
with  a  perceptible  desire  for  thee,  knowing  that  thou  dost 
love  and  accept  those  who  command  themselves  for  thee. 

We  confess  our  devotion  does  not  depend  upon  mood  or 
sentiment.  We  will  to  do  thy  will,  for  thou  hast  given  us 
power  of  self-direction  and  self-control.  We  would  hesitate 
to  acknowledge  that  our  love  for  thee  rested  on  emotion  and 
sentiment;  these  are  but  expressions  of  our  regard  for  that 
which  is  thine.  Moreover,  we  are  such  creatures  of  feeling 
that  our  physical  moods  often  rest  upon  us  like  heavy 
burdens.  They  bear  down  upon  the  spirit  until  we  are  com¬ 
pelled  to  cry  aloud  unto  thee  as  though  thou  didst  not  hear 
us.  We  thank  thee  that  for  such  an  hour  thou  hast  given  us 
the  prayer  of  importunity,  that  will  not  be  discouraged,  that 
gathers  force,  that  cries  out,  “I  will  not  let  thee  go  till  thou 
dost  bless  me.”  Wilt  thou  further  teach  us  the  secrets  of 
the  spiritual  life,  and  in  this  hour  direct  our  thought  along 
the  paths  of  truth  that  lead  to  Christ,  our  Lord.  Amen. 

Introduction 

The  previous  incidents  in  the  life  of  our  Lord,  studied  for 
their  evangelistic  content,  present  three  persons  seeking  intel¬ 
lectual  enlightenment  as  an  answer  for  their  soul-hunger.  He 
impressed  each  one  of  them  differently,  and  yet  brought  them 
back  to  confession  of  himself  as  the  Son  of  God,  the  Messiah 
of  Israel.  He  made  a  distinct  impression  on  each  one :  the 
first,  a  spiritual ;  the  second,  an  intellectual ;  the  third,  a  moral 
impression.  Through  these  the  soul  was  touched  and  the 
great  truth  of  God  in  Christ  became  a  reality.  In  this  chap¬ 
ter  Jesus  will  be  seen  approaching  the  soul  through  a  physical 
impression.  It  is  a  case  of  crucial  evangelism  as  related  to 


FOR  THE  IMPORTUNATE  SOUL 


7i 


the  individual  and  collective  evangelism  as  to  demonstration 
of  method. 

The  Afflicted  Type 

There  has  always  been  a  class  of  men  who  may  be  called 
the  afflicted  type.  They  are  incapacitated  by  physical  affliction. 
Most  men  are  at  times  members  of  this  group,  for  afflictions 
overtake  each  of  us  before  our  life’s  journey  is  ended.  We 
must  be  prepared  to  understand  why  it  is  so.  Our  faith 
must  be  ready  not  only  to  support  but  direct  through  such  ex¬ 
periences.  However,  the  afflicted  type  is  the  one  presenting  an 
age-long  problem.  Why  do  we  have  physical  deformities  and 
infirmities?  This  has  been  a  question  of  moral  philosophy  and 
theology  since  man  began  to  think  about  himself  and  God. 
The  students  of  physiology  in  producing  the  science  of 
human  anatomy  have  contributed  much  toward  a  solution  of 
the  problem.  Physical  afflictions  have  been  accounted  for 
within  the  physical  life,  some  as  malformation,  some  as 
congenital  defeat,  and  some  as  hereditary  predisposition.  The 
Christian  thinker  may  stand  near  and  ask,  “Why  are  men 
so  afflicted  if  there  is  a  wise  and  beneficent  God?”  The  an¬ 
swer  has  always  been,  “Neglect  or  willful  violation  of  God’s 
natural  and  spiritual  law.”  He  has  not  been  able  to  deter¬ 
mine  where  responsibility  rests,  neither  the  degree  of  cul¬ 
pability.  Sometimes  the  words  of  Christ  confront  him  with 
an  inscrutable  situation,  “Neither  hath  this  man  sinned,  nor 
his  parents,”  as  though  there  were  times  when  it  is  unfilial 
to  raise  the  question.  For  it  is  a  fundamental  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  faith  that  disease  and  suffering  may  find  their  origin 
apart  from  moral  conduct.  Natural  science  has  produced  the 
germ  theory  of  disease  and  answered  an  age-long  question. 
Some  afflictions  do  come  from  sinning  against  God’s  laws. 
However,  let  us  not  forget  it,  as  many  do.  What  then  is  God 
going  to  do  with  affliction  in  his  universe?  Has  he  a  remedy? 
Is  it  permanent  or  subject  to  alleviation  and  final  elimination? 
Must  the  afflicted  type  remain  to  mar  and  destroy  his  creation, 
which  he  said  at  the  beginning  was  altogether  good?  Rather, 
it  affords  a  continuous  opportunity  for  him  to  work  with 
remedial  methods  the  perfection  of  his  handiwork.  Indeed, 
we  are  driven  to  receive  this  as  a  part  of  our  faith  if  we 
believe  in  the  Fatherhood  of  God.  He  is  here  working 


72 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


with  the  breakdown  of  his  children.  He  has  a  ministry  of 
healing  and  restoration  going  on  without  interruption.  If 
not,  then  our  faith  is  in  vain  and  our  hope  a  deceit  and  a 
rebuke. 

The  Physical  Approach 

The  easiest  way  to  reach  the  soul  of  a  man  afflicted  by  any 
disease  or  infirmity  is  that  of  the  physical  approach.  The 
habit  of  Jesus  was  to  preach  and  at  the  same  time  heal.  He 
understood  that  a  ministry  of  physical  healing  opened  the 
way  for  a  spiritual  ministry  that  could  be  gained  by  no  other 
method.  It  was  also  his  faith  that  man  dwells  in  a  body 
which  is  so  intimately  identified  with  his  soul-life  that  it 
must  be  taken  into  account  in  all  spiritual  dealing.  His 
example  should  teach  us  that  the  human  body,  not  less  than 
the  human  soul,  is  God’s  creature,  therefore  in  itself  good. 
To  it  evil  is  an  accident,  an  incident.  It  is  capable  of  being 
delivered  from  many  afflictions,  which  do  so  easily  beset  it. 
Indeed,  Jesus  exalts  the  body  in  which  we  dwell,  and  leads 
us  to  believe  it  is  destined  to  give  form  to  that  incorruptible 
and  glorified  body  to  be  raised  in  the  last  day  beyond  the 
reach  of  disease  and  death.  In  fact,  it  is  with  this  thought 
in  mind  that  all  our  modern  ministries  are  supported.  The 
constantly  increasing  fight  of  organized  Christianity  for 
the  alleviation  of  physical  suffering,  whether  of  poverty  or 
disease,  is  based  upon  our  faith  in  the  redemption  of  the 
body  as  well  as  that  of  the  soul.  This  is  a  distinctively 
Christian  idea,  and  must  be  given  a  proper  place  in  thought. 
The  attitude  of  the  Christian  religion  toward  the  material 
side  of  man  stands  in  strange  contrast  with  that  of  pagan¬ 
ism,  which  looked  upon  the  body  as  sinful  and  altogether 
evil.  Jesus  made  his  ministry  of  healing  a  parable  of  the 
spiritual  life.  Each  one  led  to  some  truth  about  the  soul. 
Indeed,  none  but  those  who  are  dull  of  understanding 
could  imagine  that  their  Benefactor  meant  them  to  .go  home 
and  enjoy  their  restored  health  without  a  thought  of  any¬ 
thing  higher.  It  is  altogether  within  the  range  of  probability 
that  the  majority  of  those  Jesus  healed  entered  into  the  new 
life,  for  somehow  he  impressed  them  that  physical  healing 
was  not  an  end  in  itself,  but  a  summons  to  moral  recon¬ 
struction. 


FOR  TFIE  IMPORTUNATE  SOUL 


73 


The  physical  approach  used  by  Jesus  in  the  story  of  blind 
Bartimseus  led  at  once  to  a  spiritual  ministry,  in  which  the 
man  walking  in  darkness  became  a  follower  in  the  way  and 
a  witness  of  his  healing  power. 

Collective  Evangelism 

There  is  a  familiar  form  of  evangelism  which  moves  men 
en  masse.  It  is  popular  because  it  appeals  to  man’s  group 
instincts.  It  may,  for  convenience,  be  called  collective  evan¬ 
gelism.  It  has  been  the  most  common  form  of  revivalism 
in  operation  for  over  two  centuries.  Indeed,  it  has  not  been 
out  of  use  since  the  day  of  Pentecost  and  the  time  when 
Peter  baptized  Cornelius  at  Caesarea,  and  later  received  on 
confession  the  rest  of  his  household  as  members  of  the 
Christian  faith.  It  has  received  the  sanction  of  the  church 
because  in  it  has  been  manifest  the  leadership  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  In  it  was  born  the  Protestant  Reformation  under 
Luther,  and  every  great  religious  movement  since.  It  origi¬ 
nates  in  an  accentuation  of  evangelistic  preaching,  which 
directs  its  appeal  to  men  not  as  individuals,  but  in  mass.  It 
utilizes  the  methods  of  indirection,  releases  spiritual  power, 
creates  an  atmosphere  that  pervades  the  mental  life  of  the 
community,  until  the  moral  and  spiritual  emphasis  cannot  be 
resisted.  Conviction  for  sin  comes  to  rest  upon  the  most 
indifferent,  producing  violent  opposition  in  some  and  quick 
surrender  in  others.  This  is  the  most  successful  method  of 
dealing  with  adult  life.  Many  men  would  never  find  Christ, 
and  the  forgiveness  and  regeneration  he  is  able  to  give,  but 
for  the  crisis  produced  in  their  lives  through  the  powerful 
preaching  of  a  leader  in  a  collective  evangelistic  campaign. 
If  we  search  for  an  explanation  of  the  marvelous  working 
of  collective  evangelism,  we  will  find  the  human  side  of  it 
in  crowd  psychology.  Experience  has  taught  us  that  men 
do  not  to  any  perceptible  degree  shape  their  conduct  upon  the 
teaching  of  pure  reason.  The  influence  of  laws  and  institu¬ 
tions  and  customs  is  found  to  be  slight  upon  them,  when 
studied  in  the  light  of  crowd  psychology.  They  seem  power¬ 
less  to  hold  any  opinions  other  than  those  imposed  upon 
them.  They  are  unable  to  surrender  themselves  continuously 
to  activities  based  upon  theories  of  pure  equity.  They  must 
be  impressed  by  the  will  of  their  group  and  seduced  by  the 


74 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


appeals  of  the  opinions  of  the  community.  They  seem  unable 
to  undertake  independent,  individual  action.  They  walk  and 
live  under  the  influence  of  the  collective  mind.  If  they  are 
to  be  reached  for  moral  reconstruction  and  spiritual  regen¬ 
eration,  those  who  approach  them  must  know  the  operation 
of  the  psychological  law  of  the  mental  unity  of  crowds. 

However,  in  this  evangelistic  form  lies  a  constant  peril 
to  the  individual.  Men  cannot  be  saved  in  groups,  or  masses, 
or  crowds,  or  communities,  as  Charlemagne  inflicted  baptism 
on  the  Saxons.  Christian  salvation  begins  with  the  individ¬ 
ual  by  ministering  to  his  infirmities,  healing  his  diseases,  and 
making  him  a  new  creature  in  Christ.  If,  therefore,  he  joins 
the  Christian  community  and  remains  the  same  man  he  was 
before,  he  has  missed  the  most  vital  thing  promised  men 
through  faith  in  Christ.  The  first  step  in  the  Christian  life 
is  toward  Christ,  not  toward  the  company  following  him. 
He  was  sent  among  men  to  heal  their  infirmities,  to  make  of 
them  new  creatures.  If  among  those  accompanying  him  and 
bearing  his  name  is  one,  unchanged,  with  a  diseased  mind 
and  an  afflicted  body,  his  presence  is  a  reflection  rather  than 
a  witness  to  Christ’s  power  to  heal  and  save.  For  New 
Testament  salvation  is  individualistic  and  then  afterward 
socialistic.  Each  man  must  meet  Christ  first  with  repent¬ 
ance  and  acknowledgment  of  sin,  and  then  through  the  exer¬ 
cise  of  faith  accept  him  as  a  personal  Saviour,  who  gains 
for  him  forgiveness  and  works  within  him  regeneration. 

The  Conversion  of  Blind  Bartimseus 

In  the  healing  and  conversion  of  blind  Bartimseus  we  have, 
on  a  small  scale,  an  illustration  of  peril  to  the  individual, 
of  mass  enthusiasm  working  discipleship.  Jesus  was  on  his 
way  toward  Jerusalem.  Great  crowds  of  people  from  the 
Diaspora  were  joining  his  company  and  proclaiming  the 
Prophet  of  Galilee  the  promised  Messiah.  A  great  wave  of 
popular  enthusiasm  was  bearing  him  along  for  his  triumphal 
entrance  into  the  Holy  City.  Scarcely  a  man  could  resist  the 
contagion.  It  was  spreading,  infectious  and  powerful.  The 
influence  of  the  crowd  was  overwhelming,  and  as  it  sur¬ 
rounded  the  Christ,  sweeping  him  along  the  highway,  the 
individual  was  lost  in  the  collective  spirit  that  prevailed. 
Bartimseus  sat  by  the  wayside  begging.  In  his  experience  at 


FOR  THE  IMPORTUNATE  SOUL 


75 


that  moment  arose  one  of  the  greatest  problems  with  which 
Christianity  has  to  deal  in  propagating  the  spiritual  life — 
that  of  first  saving  the  individual  and  afterward  making  him 
a  part  of  the  crowd. 

In  a  Great  Mass  Revival  there  are  always  three  things 
to  be  taken  into  account — the  crowd,  the  preacher  and  his 
message,  and  the  individual  needs. 

The  influence  of  the  crowd  must  be  reasoned  with.  It  is 
fundamental,  for  when  religious  impulses  take  hold  of  groups 
of  men  they  are  prone  to  crush  the  individual  under  the 
burden  of  the  mass,  the  result  being  the  destruction  of  his 
higher  spiritual  sensibilities.  It  has  been  proven  that  many  reli¬ 
gious  beliefs  have  a  social  origin.  In  pagan  lands,  as  well  as 
in  the  life  of  primitive  man,  religion  was  imposed.  The  in¬ 
dividual  was  forced  to  accept.  He  could  not  resist,  no  mat¬ 
ter  how  opposed  he  might  be,  for  the  collective  mentality 
of  his  tribe  forced  upon  him  a  religious  faith  that  was  born, 
not  of  any  need  he  might  personally  feel,  but  from  the 
social  necessities.  He  could  not  exist  outside  nor  live  in¬ 
dependent  of  society,  therefore  he  must  subordinate  himself 
to  its  demands  upon  him  to  become  a  part  of  it.  A  religion 
engendered  by  nature  has  no  place  for  individual  salvation. 
It  says  the  needs  of  the  larger  group  come  first.  For  the 
individual  to  assert  himself  is  unadulterated  selfishness  and 
highly  reprehensible.  Considering  the  good  of  all,  the  social 
needs  come  first.  What  are  these  constituent  elements  of 
society  to  which  all  others  must  be  subordinated?  The 
sociologist  names  them,  social  unity,  social  cohesion,  and 
social  integration.  In  maintaining  these  religion  is  an  in¬ 
dispensable  influence,  in  that  it  restrains  individual  liberty 
and  subordinates  him  to  the  interests  of  the  continuity  of 
social  existence.  Obviously,  religion  centers  its  power  in  the 
crowd.  It  places  great  and  powerful  restrictions  and  re¬ 
straints  on  the  strongest  individual  instincts.  Among  pagan 
peoples  a  man  fails  to  find  his  religious  faith  a  source  of 
consolation.  It  is  a  cause  of  perpetual  anguish,  a  never- 
ceasing  impeachment ;  a  source  of  endless,  irksome  restraint ; 
a  cause  of  incalculable  terror,  and  constantly  produces  misery 
and  dread.  And  yet,  as  a  social  force,  religion  is  an  absolute 
necessity.  Men  cannot  live  together  in  groups  without  it. 

Here,  then,  is  an  irrepresssible  conflict.  The  spiritual 


76 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


nature  of  the  individual  must  be  ministered  unto.  Religion 
should  furnish  him  consolation  and  comfort.  He  has  need 
of  moral  regeneration,  and  a  source  of  power  to  supply  him 
with  an  unfailing  reserve  of  moral  motive.  He  lives  in  a 
world  of  struggle  and  conflict.  He  can  survive  only  when  his 
spirit  finds  the  hidden  sources  of  reaction  against  his  op¬ 
position.  He  is  preyed  upon  by  disease  and  is  the  subject  of 
weariness  and  worry.  He  has  soul-hungers  and  elemental 
instincts  that  make  him  restless  and  sick  of  heart.  Religion 
must  somehow  minister  unto  him.  His  needs  must  be  taken 
into  account  and  provided  for,  else  he  perish,  for  the  body 
of  society  is  composed  of  individual  elements.  When  they 
are  neglected  and  remain  undeveloped  the  level  of  paganism 
prevails.  If  the  individual  and  social  interests  are  always 
opposed,  a  religion  of  divine  origin  will  find  a  way  to  recon¬ 
cile  them.  It  is  at  this  point  that  the  uniqueness  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  appears.  It  has  proven  that  while  remaining  true  to 
its  fundamental  function  as  a  religion,  of  assuming  social 
integration  and  cohesion,  it  also  becomes  a  source  of  un¬ 
equaled  consolation  and  inspiration  for  individual  distress 
and  weakness  and  stands  unrivaled  as  an  influence  to  main¬ 
tain  hope  in  the  heart,  comfort  in  the  soul,  and  to  generate 
power  of  reaction  in  the  will  against  the  perversity  of  a  harsh 
and  merciless  world. 

In  thinking  of  religion,  as  well  as  the  salvation  offered 
by  Christ,  we  must  not  neglect  to  consider  this  double  aspect 
of  Christianity  as  an  instrument  of  social  and  individual 
development.  Only  as  we  think  of  our  religion  in  this  respect, 
as  realizing  an  equilibrium  between  social  and  individual  in¬ 
terests,  can  we  hope  to  have  any  appreciable  understanding 
of  it. 

The  evangelistic  value  of  these  fundamental  truths  is  found 
in  the  fact  that  men  as  individuals  during  a  great  religious 
mass  movement  become  lost  in  the  crowd,  surrender  to  the 
superheated  atmosphere  then  prevailing  without  becoming 
familiar  with  the  principles  and  convictions  that  dominate 
the  group.  Men  give  themselves  to  the  control  of  the  emo¬ 
tions  that  pervade  a  mass  revival  and  remain  strangers  to 
the  fires  of  its  passion.  Crowd  enthusiasm  does  not  produce 
moral  regeneration,  neither  does  it  generate  the  spiritual  life. 
A  man  may  join  those  following  Jesus  and  remain  deaf  and 
dumb,  or  maimed  and  halt  and  blind.  The  only  surety  for 


FOR  THE  IMPORTUNATE  SOUL 


77 


the  blind  man  by  the  wayside  is  to  refuse  to  heed  the  crowd, 
push  forward  to  the  Christ  for  his  healing,  then  fall  in  and 
follow  him  on  the  way. 

Bartimaeus,  the  Wayside  Beggar,  Resisted  the  Crowd 
and  found  the  Christ  who  healed  him  of  his  blindness.  He 
was  a  representative  of  that  type  of  manhood  needing  a 
threefold  salvation. 

First.  He  needed  a  physical  salvation.  His  blindness 
limited  his  world  of  thought  and  action.  He  was  deprived 
of  one  of  the  most  indispensable  physical  senses.  All  the 
beautiful  world  of  God’s  creation  was  unknown  to  him.  The 
enlargement  of  intellect  that  comes  from  acquaintance  with 
the  faces  of  men  and  the  expression  of  their  emotions  was 
not  permitted  him.  He  could  not  understand  the  world  as 
other  men  did.  His  dependence  upon  others  for  guidance 
lest  he  stumble  and  fall,  lest  he  lose  his  way,  discouraged  the 
spirit  of  independence  within  him,  and  made  a  beggar  of 
him,  not  only  by  practice,  but  in  heart. 

Second.  He  needed  a  social  salvation.  As  a  solicitor  of 
alms  he  was  a  social  outcast.  He  was  a  nonproducer  and 
a  liability.  He  was  compelled  to  live  off  the  labor  of  others, 
and  survive  by  an  appeal  to  pity.  As  such  he  became  a  men¬ 
ace  to  society.  He  needed  to  be  restored  to  a  position  of 
self-support,  to  social  and  physical  health.  As  long  as  he 
remained  among  the  waste  products  of  society  any  kind  of 
religion  that  he  might  possess  would  be  valueless.  Religion 
means  moral  circumspection,  which  in  turn  demands  a  social 
rating,  and  never  fails  to  gain  power  and  place  for  self-sup¬ 
port  and  personal  initiative. 

Third.  He  had  need  of  moral  salvation.  He  was  without  any 
personal  merit  because  he  could  in  no  sense  depart  from 
himself  and  live  his  life  for  others.  He  may  have  been  good 
because  of  lack  of  opportunity  to  be  wicked.  He  was 
morally  negative,  he  must  be  made  positive.  He  had  lost 
his  power  to  get  on  in  the  world.  He  sat  by  the  way- 
side,  listening  to  others  go  by  in  pursuit  of  wealth,  health, 
and  happiness.  He  was  located  by  the  side  of  the  road  of 
progress  and  growth  because  he  could  not  see.  If  religion 
had  any  consolation  and  help  for  an  individual  sorely  afflicted, 
blind  Bartimseus  was  the  man  who  sorely  needed  its  offices. 

He  had  heard  of  the  wonderful  healing  ministry  of  Jesus 


78 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


of  Nazareth.  Rumor  had  borne  to  him  the  reports  of  the 
leper  being  healed,  of  the  lame  man  being  restored,  of  the 
deaf  being  made  to  hear  and  the  dumb  to  speak,  of  the  blind 
being  restored  to  sight.  If  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ever  came  his 
way,  he  would  have  his  chance.  That  day  came.  He  sat  by 
the  wayside.  The  noise  of  a  great  company  approaching 
came  upon  his  ears.  Upon  inquiry  he  learned  that  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  with  a  large  procession  of  people,  was  passing. 
He  was  thrown  into  a  mental  crisis.  It  was  his  crucial  hour, 
an  opportunity  which  if  not  seized  at  once  would  be  lost. 
How  could  he  reach  Jesus  through  the  multitude?  Would 
he  dare  stir  that  group  unity?  Could  he  disturb  the  cohesion 
of  the  procession  and  embarrass  its  progress?  He  rose  to 
his  feet  and  cried  out  mightily,  “Jesus,  thou  son  of  David, 
have  mercy  upon  me.”  Then  appeared  the  influence  of  the 
crowd.  His  interests  seemed  at  once  in  conflict  with  those  of 
the  great  company.  It  sought  to  suppress  him.  Why  should 
he  thrust  his  own  selfish  demands  upon  the  hero  of  that  hour? 
Why  should  he  break  the  unity  and  continuity  of  the  en¬ 
thusiasm  that  bore  the  mass  of  people  along  to  Jerusalem? 
Only  one  individual  counted  at  that  moment.  He  was  Jesus 
of  Nazareth.  Many  charged  the  blind  man  to  hold  his  peace. 
He  was  in  bad  form.  He  was  out  of  order.  He  could  have 
joined  the  crowd,  lost  himself  in  its  enthusiasm,  followed 
in  the  way,  participated  in  the  glad  acclaim  of  the  new 
Prophet,  and  have  caused  no  trouble.  But  he  needed  to  see 
Jesus  himself.  He  must  have  his  eyes  restored.  Resisting 
the  will  of  the  crowd,  he  cried  “the  more  a  great  deal,  Thou 
son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me.”  It  was  a  moment  of 
desperation.  The  impulses  of  the  crowd  opposed  him.  They 
demanded  that  he  fall  in  and  quietly  follow  in  the  way. 
But  his  blindness  was  his  great  need.  He  must  see  Jesus 
or  walk  in  darkness  the  rest  of  his  life.  Would  he  in  his 
blindness  join  the  crowd  or  the  Christ?  The  more  they 
charged  him  to  hold  his  peace  the  more  he  cried  out,  “Thou 
son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me.”  It  was  Jesus  the  man 
wanted,  not  the  crowd.  He  compelled  attention.  “Jesus 
stood  still,  and  commanded  him  to  be  called.”  Then  they 
beckoned  the  blind  man,  trying  to  quiet  him,  saying,  “Be 
of  good  comfort,  rise ;  he  calleth  for  thee.”  Then,  with 
remarkable  dramatic  action,  “he,  casting  away  his  garment, 
rose,  and  came  to  Jesus.”  The  individual  and  Jesus  met. 


FOR  THE  IMPORTUNATE  SOUL 


79 


Affliction  was  brought  to  the  Physician,  and  blindness  to  the 
Great  Oculist.  With  wonderful  compassion  Jesus  inquired, 
“What  wilt  thou  that  I  should  do  unto  thee?”  The  blind 
man  answered  in  pathetic  submission,  “Lord,  that  I  might 
receive  my  sight.”  He  had  resisted  the  crowd  and  found 
the  Christ,  who  replied,  “Go  thy  way;  thy  faith  hath  made 
thee  whole.”  And  “immediately  he  received  his  sight,  and 
followed  Jesus  in  the  way.”  On  his  march  with  the  great 
company  of  people  to  Jerusalem,  Jesus  had  become  the 
Christ  to  him.  He  had  met  Jesus  personally  and  the  Lord 
had  done  something  for  him.  He  had  answered  his  one 
great  need.  He  had  experienced  a  transformation  in  his  life 
that  was  at  once  a  miracle  and  attestation  of  the  super¬ 
natural  power  of  Jesus  the  prophet  of  Galilee.  The  en¬ 
thusiasm  of  the  crowd  was  his  because  he  had  evidence  in 
his  own  life  that  made  him  glad  and  released  him  into  a 
new  world.  What  if  he  had  obeyed  the  voice  of  the  multi¬ 
tude  rather  than  his  impulse  to  seek  Jesus  for  personal 
healing? 

Two  Final  Questions. — Two  important  questions  face  the 
student  of  this  incident:  First,  How  far  can  a  blind  man  fol¬ 
low  Jesus  and  continue  to  be  blind?  that  is,  How  far  can  a 
man  seem  to  follow  Christ  without  being  rid  of  the  sins  and 
infirmities  which  he  came  to  relieve?  Second,  How  is  an 
individual  after  personally  finding  Christ  going  to  adjust 
himself  to  live  his  spiritual  life  within  the  group  life  of 
Church  membership?  For  no  man  follows  Christ  alone. 
There  is  no  lovers’  lane  over  which  a  man  may  go  alone  with 
those  he  holds  in  his  heart.  He  must  join  the  company  of 
those  following  Jesus  to  the  heavenly  city,  and  be  a  witness 
to  what  has  been  done  for  him. 

The  healing  ministry  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  came  first  in 
his  dealing  with  many  men.  It  was,  however,  always  second¬ 
ary;  a  means  to  an  end.  This  fact  must  not  be  overlooked 
by  his  followers,  for  in  so  doing  they  will  lose  one  of  the 
strongest  and  most  indispensable  elements  of  his  teaching 
and  ministry.  If  he  healed  the  body  when  on  earth,  how  far 
should  our  faith  follow  him  to-day?  Let  us  state  this  in 
two  propositions :  First,  the  Christian  conception  of  the  body 
includes  it  in  the  process  of  redemption.  What  do  we  mean 
by  this?  Christianity  teaches  that  the  house  in  which  the 


8o 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


soul  dwells  is  not  of  itself  evil.  The  character  of  the  in¬ 
dweller  determines  that.  Therefore,  religion  as  taught  by 
Christ  and  operated  by  the  Holy  Spirit  coming  into  a  man’s 
life  carries  a  dynamic  that  affects  his  body  as  well  as  his 
soul.  It  is  not  difficult  for  a  modern  student  of  psychology 
to  see  this.  In  the  light  of  physiology  he  has  learned  that 
his  physical  life  is  dependent  upon  nerve  ganglia,  that  his 
body  is  a  network  set  frequently  with  nerve  centers  which 
respond  to  and  are  controlled  by  thought  impulses.  Indeed, 
they  are  recognized  as  psychical  centers,  where  a  mental  direc¬ 
tion  is  transformed  into  action,  and  from  which  physical 
impulses  become  psychic  impressions  that  are  later  trans¬ 
formed  into  thought.  He  also  has  learned  that  his  thought 
life  counts  more  with  him  than  the  kind  of  food  he  eats 
and  the  water  he  drinks.  He  has  discovered  within  him  a 
system  of  health  protectors,  in  the  form  of  closely  associated 
glands,  producing  anti-toxins  of  so  perfect  a  drug  quality 
that  they  can  be  artificially  manufactured.  These  little  drug 
manufacturing  concerns  distributed  along  the  alimentary 
canal  are  under  the  control  of  the  third  sympathetic  nervous 
system,  centering  in  the  solar  plexus,  or,  as  the  psychologist 
now  calls  it,  the  abdominal  brain.  This  brain  center  is  directly 
connected  with  the  cranial  or  thought  brain,  where  its  control 
is  finally  lodged.  When  the  thinking  brain  is  slow  and  moody, 
blue,  despondent,  full  of  doubt  and  uncertainty,  all  the  system 
that  has  the  work  of  the  elimination  of  the  toxins  of  the 
body,  slows  down,  and  fatigue  begins  its  work  of  casting 
weariness  throughout  the  physical  man.  Speed  up  the  thought 
life  with  anticipation,  good  cheer,  faith,  and  assurance,  and 
health  begins  to  appear,  hastening  toward  abundance.  On 
this  physical  basis  rests  the  cause  for  most,  if  not  all,  faith 
healing.  God  has  made  it  so.  A  psychic  being  with  delicate 
channels  to  carry  psychic  forces  into  all  parts  of  the  anatomy, 
proving  that  man  is  not  a  body,  but,  rather,  a  soul,  dwelling 
and  fitting  into  a  body  so  that  it  cannot  be  extricated  from 
it  without  the  destruction  of  the  visible  life.  What,  then, 
can  produce  the  psychic  impulse  of  healing  and  health,  moral 
transformation  and  spiritual  regeneration?  It  is  altogether 
within  the  realm  of  the  understanding  when  the  relation  of 
the  body  to  the  mind  through  the  function  of  the  third 
sympathetic  nervous  system  and  the  abdominal  brain  is  un¬ 
derstood.  It  is  a  physical  approach,  but  nevertheless  true. 


FOR  THE  IMPORTUNATE  SOUL 


81 


The  physical  is  nothing  in  itself ;  for  all  its  operations  some 
stimulant  must  be  found  in  a  man’s  thought  life.  What, 
then,  is  the  highest  motive,  the  strongest  stimulant?  The 
answer  is,  Religion.  In  the  field  of  religion  where  is  the 
strongest  motive  released?  Answer  again,  Love  for  Christ. 
A  continuous  affection  for  him  and  a  persistent  desire  to 
be  like  him  will  produce  spiritual  or  psychic  power  within 
that  will  modify  man’s  physical  brain,  produce  new  functional 
areas,  enlarge  old  ones,  and  make  him  a  new  creature  in 
disposition  and  native  talents.  That  is  the  witness  not  of 
the  theologian,  but  psychologist  and  scientist.  If  we  have 
Christ’s  point  of  view  we  shall  not  look  upon  ourselves  as 
prisoners  within  this  physical  dwelling,  but  accept  it  as  an 
organism  that  can  be  modified,  repaired,  or  enlarged  at  the 
owner’s  desire.  The  race  as  it  grows  older  is  realizing  more 
what  Christ  meant  when  he  said,  “Whatsoever  ye  desire  when 
ye  pray  believe  and  ye  shall  have  it.” 

Second,  the  Christian  conception  of  the  soul  does  not  teach 
its  regeneration  apart  from  the  physical  life.  The  Holy 
Scriptures  maintain  the  faith  that  man  is  not  a  body  with 
organs  functioning  in  an  articulated  relation  producing  his 
life.  They  declare  that  man  is  a  soul,  that  his  thinking 
brain  is  the  instrument  of  him  who  thinks ;  while  the  body, 
as  we  have  seen,  is  held  together  in  functioning  life  by  a 
psychic  animation,  from  which  if  any  part  is  severed,  death 
ensues.  No  part  of  the  physical  life  has  existence  if  separated 
from  the  seat  or  dwelling  place  of  the  soul.  What  then  is 
the  Christian  conception  of  soul?  It  is  the  self,  the  per¬ 
sonality,  the  inner  man,  the  ego,  which  limits  and  conditions 
itself  to  growth,  and  expression  through  the  experiences  of 
human  nature.  If  man  is  a  soul,  his  great  problem  is  not 
how  to  live  the  physical  but  the  soul  life.  He  cannot  live  it 
alone.  He  must  live  it  with  his  fellow  men  and  Christ. 

Therefore  we  are  brought  to  consider  the  second  proposi¬ 
tion,  How  is  an  individual,  after  finding  Christ,  going  to 
adjust  himself  to  live  his  spiritual  life  within  the  group  life 
of  church  membership?  The  world  is  ready  to  condemn 
the  individualist.  It  demands  that  he  train  himself  to  act 
and  live  with  his  fellow  men.  An  unrelated  man  is  either 
a  vagabond  or  a  rake.  The  very  fact  that  a  man  has  group 
relations,  that  he  belongs  to  clubs,  fraternities,  associations, 
and  a  church,  enhances  his  social  value  A  recluse,  living 


82 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


unto  himself  alone,  is  the  suspicion  of  all  who  know  him, 
for  the  modern  world  demands  that  he  shall  live  his  life 
associated  with  his  fellow  men.  It  is  equally  true  with  a 
man’s  spiritual  life.  He  cannot  afford  to  live  alone.  He  must 
join  the  company  on  the  way  following  Christ  to  the  New 
Jerusalem.  But  in  joining  any  group  of  believers  he  is  beset  by 
two  perils — loss  of  personal  identity  and  of  individual  initia¬ 
tive.  How  is  this  possible?  In  the  first  place,  the  church 
met  him  with  a  ritual,  written  for  any  and  all  men,  by  which 
he  is  received  into  membership.  If  he  has  any  personal  be¬ 
liefs,  they  are  not  to  be  considered.  If  he  has  any  distinct  ex¬ 
periences,  they  are  treated  as  without  value.  The  prayers 
offered  for  him  have  been  repeated  in  behalf  of  thousands 
before  him.  He  discovers  he  has  been  brought  in  on  the 
common  level  of  all  God’s  children.  Afterward,  in  the  public 
worship,  he  joins  in  a  form  that  frequently  has  no  appeal 
to  him.  It  expresses  nothing  of  his  feeling.  His  prayers 
are  so  impersonal  that  he  finds  no  pleasure  in  them.  As  a 
child  he  must  not  lose  himself  in  the  family.  What  shall  he 
do?  He  must  grow  in  the  stature  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord.  He  must  maintain  his  own  individuality.  He  must 
pray  his  own  prayer.  His  devotions  must  be  as  distinct  and 
considered  as  necessary  as  the  food  he  eats  and  the  water 
he  drinks  and  the  clothes  he  wears  to  support  him  as  a  man. 
He  must  love  his  Bible,  consecrate  time  for  meditation,  and 
meet  the  Holy  Spirit  personally  each  day  if  he  is  to  grow 
in  grace  and  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord.  If  a  believer  depends  entirely  upon  public 
worship,  and  the  accepted  ritualistic  forms  of  devotion,  to 
maintain  his  spiritual  life,  he  may  make  a  good  religious 
ritualist,  but  never  an  enthusiastic,  evangelical  Christian. 

Furthermore,  when  a  man  joins  a  company  of  believers 
his  individual  initiative  is  imperiled.  What  could  Bartimseus 
do  as  a  witness  for  Christ  after  the  crowd  pressed  about  him 
and  shut  him  in?  Something  marvelous  had  been  done  for 
him  which,  if  told,  would  increase  the  company  of  believers. 
His  gratitude  rises  within  him  like  the  surge  of  a  tide.  What 
can  he  do?  The  instinct  to  proclaim  that  which  thrills  the 
heart  takes  hold  of  him.  He  must  witness  unto  others  of 
the  great  things  the  Lord  has  done  for  him.  What  can  he 
do?  Here  is  the  great  crowd,  the  ever-present  company  of 
believers.  Shall  he  lose  his  own  identity,  and  witness  as  they 


FOR  THE  IMPORTUNATE  SOUL 


83 


direct?  Shall  he  surrender  his  own  initiative,  and  follow 
the  way  they  have  always  gone?  Verily  this  is  the  inevitable 
problem  of  every  disciple.  In  its  proper  solution  he  finds 
his  soul  happiness,  and  opportunity  to  enter  into  an  active 
Christian  life,  which  at  the  end  returns  to  him  many  fold 
the  investment  of  his  life  for  Jesus  Christ. 

Bartimseus  resisted  the  crowd  and  found  the  Christ.  His 
experience  revealed  the  great  truth  that  a  personal  knowledge 
of  Christ  will  heal  the  soul  of  its  afflictions,  and  that  he  who 
joins  the  company  of  believers,  without  first  meeting  the 
One  in  whom  they  believe,  will  not  share  in  the  joy  the  Lord 
Christ  came  to  bring. 

The  voice  of  the  crowd  still  calls,  when  we  cry  out  under 
conviction  for  our  sins,  that  we  should  hold  our  peace ;  but 
the  prayer  of  importunity  brings  an  answer  from  Him  who 
said,  “What  wilt  thou  that  I  should  do  unto  thee?”  Finding 
him,  the  prayer,  “Lord,  that  I  might  receive  my  sight,”  is 
answered,  to  our  relief  and  endless  delight. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  CLASS  STUDY 

1.  What  do  we  mean  by  the  afflicted  type? 

2.  How  may  a  physical  approach  reach  a  man’s  soul? 

3.  What  is  collective  evangelism? 

4.  What  is  a  mass  revival? 

5.  What  are  the  perils  to  the  individual  in  a  mass  revival? 

6.  What  is  the  conflict  between  social  and  individual  in¬ 
terests  ? 

7.  What  threefold  salvation  did  Bartimaeus  need? 

8.  How  did  he  resist  the  will  of  the  crowd  and  find  Christ? 

9.  Did  Jesus  have  a  healing  ministry? 

10.  What  is  the  Christian  conception  of  the  body? 

11.  How  far  should  a  man’s  religious  faith  be  expected  to 
affect  his  health? 

12.  In  what  sense  is  man  a  soul? 

13.  To  what  extent  should  a  Christian  be  an  individualist? 

14.  How  may  a  man  lose  his  soul  in  depending  upon  the 
public  form  of  worship? 

15.  Should  a  man  join  the  Christ  first  and  later  the  Church? 


The  crisis  of  the  conflict  between  the  kingdoms  of  good 
and  evil  took  place  in  the  death  of  Christ :  the  highest  mani¬ 
festation  of  good  in  him — the  highest  manifestation  of  evil 
in  the  pursuers  of  those  who  saw  the  divinest  excellence 
and  called  it  satanic  evil.  To  call  evil  good  and  good  evil — 
to  call  divine  good  satanic  wickedness,  there  is  no  state  lower 
than  that.  It  is  the  rottenness  of  the  core  of  the  heart:  it 
is  the  unpardonable  because  irrecoverable  sin.  So  far  as  I 
belong  to  that  kingdom  or  flght  in  that  warfare,  it  may  be 
truly  said,  the  Saviour  died  for  my  sin.  Every  time  I  hate 
a  good  man  for  his  meekness  or  his  goodness — find  bad 
motive  to  account  for  the  excellence  of  those  who  differ  from 
me — judge  sins  of  weakness  more  severely  than  sins  of 
wickedness — shut  God  out  of  the  soul  to  substitute  some  lie 
of  my  own  or  of  society — I  am  a  sharer  in  the  spirit  to 
which  he  fell  a  victim.  He  bore  my  sins  in  his  body  on  the 
tree. — Robertson. 


CHAPTER  V 


For  the  Distressed  Soul 

The  Radical  Type 
The  Sympathetic  Approach 
The  Evangelism  of  the  Cross 
The  Repentant  Malefactor 

Scripture  :  Luke  23.  39-45 

And  one  of  the  malefactors  which  were  hanged  railed  on 
him,  saying,  If  thou  be  Christ,  save  thyself  and  us. 

But  the  other  answering  rebuked  him,  saying,  Dost  not 
thou  fear  God,  seeing  thou  art  in  the  same  condemnation? 

And  we  indeed  justly;  for  we  receive  the  due  reward  of 
our  deeds :  but  this  man  hath  done  nothing  amiss. 

And  he  said  unto  Jesus,  Lord,  remember  me  when  thou 
comest  into  thy  kingdom. 

And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  To-day 
shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise. 

And  it  was  about  the  sixth  hour,  and  there  was  a  darkness 
over  all  the  earth  until  the  ninth  hour. 

And  the  sun  was  darkened,  and  the  veil  of  the  temple  was 
rent  in  the  midst. 

Prayer 

We  thank  thee,  O  Lord,  that  thou  hast  called  us  to  be 
evangelists.  Something  within  us  finds  the  deepest  pleasure 
when  we  become  bearers  of  good  news.  We  have  learned  by 
a  study  of  the  life  of  our  Lord  that  he  was  always  an  evangel¬ 
ist.  Even  on  his  cross  midst  the  throes  of  pain,  in  the 
silence  of  suffering,  power  was  released  from  him  that 
wrought  the  repentance  of  a  hardened  soul.  Teach  us,  we 
pray  thee,  how  to  bear  pain  and  defeat  and  humiliation,  that 
our  fortitude  may  appeal  to  men  who  know  thee  not.  The 

87 


88 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


world  is  full  of  suffering.  We  at  times  are  compelled  to  bear 
our  share.  In  that  hour,  when  we  face  our  Calvary,  give 
us  the  glory  of  the  evangelism  of  the  cross. 

We  do  not  understand  how  it  is  possible  for  us  to  enter 
into  fellowship  with  thy  suffering,  but  we  pray  that  thou 
wouldst  enter  into  fellowship  with  our  suffering.  We  want 
always  to  be  found  in  thee  not  having  our  own  righteous¬ 
ness,  but  possessing  that  which  is  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.  We  do  not  expect  to  rise  into  his  life  with  all  its 
boundless  mysteries  and  release  of  power,  but  we  do  pray 
for  him  to  come  into  our  lives.  We  open  our  hearts  to  him 
with  an  invitation  that  he  come  in  and  take  possession  of 
them.  Without  him  we  fail  to  realize  our  higher  spiritual 
capacities,  but  with  him  all  our  powers  crave  that  life  which 
is  hid  with  him  in  God.  We  do  not  boast  of  our  attainment, 
when  we  remember  our  failures  and  recount  our  shortcomings, 
but  forgetting  the  things  that  are  behind  we  press  toward  the 
mark  of  our  high  calling  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  If  the 
path  of  our  lives  leads  upward  toward  the  altar  of  sacrifice, 
if  we  must  learn  life's  greatest  lesson  on  Calvary,  if  we 
must  submit  to  the  pain  of  the  cross  and  the  death  of  wound 
and  spear,  then  help  us  in  that  dread  hour  to  pray  that  all 
we  bear  may  be  made  conformable  unto  death.  In  this  hour 
of  our  cross  make  men  to  feel  the  influence  of  the  presence 
of  God,  make  them  to  feel  the  blight  of  their  sins,  make  them 
to  turn  in  repentance  unto  thee. 

We  are  thy  children  seeking  thy  favor,  and  earnestly  pray¬ 
ing  that  Christ  our  Lord  may  give  us  his  Holy  Spirit,  that 
we  follow  him  in  the  light  of  a  conscience  void  of  offense 
toward  God  and  man.  Hear  us,  we  pray,  in  his  name.  Amen. 

Introduction 

We  have  come  to  the  cross  of  Christ.  It  is  found  on 
Golgotha — the  place  of  a  skull :  significant  statement  that  sup¬ 
ports  the  observation  that  he  has  ever,  since  that  day,  found 
his  crucifixion  there ;  while  it  may  be  asserted  that  at  the 
place  of  the  heart  he  has  always  found  the  day  of  his  resur¬ 
rection.  For  Calvary  presents  apart  from  faith  one  of  the 
most  inscrutable  incidents  in  all  the  spiritual  history  of  man¬ 
kind.  It  has  had  a  marked  effect  upon  men.  It  presents  the 
cross  of  Christ,  which  to  one  becomes  the  savor  of  life 


FOR  THE  DISTRESSED  SOUL 


89 


unto  life;  to  another  of  death  unto  death.  To  those  who 
perish,  it  is  always  foolishness,  being  without  significance; 
to  those  that  are  saved  it  becomes  the  wisdom  and  power 
of  God.  Was  it  a  tragedy  without  interpretation?  Was  it 
an  episode  occurring  as  the  climacteric  of  an  eventful  life? 
Was  it  simply  an  incident  in  the  course  of  a  good  and 
benevolent  man’s  life?  If  these  questions  have  not  arisen 
in  the  mind,  then  the  discovery  of  the  cross  still  remains. 
It  may  have  been  seen  in  the  mind’s  eye,  it  may  even  have 
been  talked  about,  but  if  it  has  not  been  discovered  as  a 
memorable  spot  on  which  the  human  mind  becomes  assured 
of  the  certainty  of  the  most  sublime  and  important  religious 
truths,  then  the  cross  of  Calvary  appears  as  a  stupendous 
mystery. 

Let  us  consider  what  are  the  plain  and  indisputable  facts 
of  the  story.  Jesus  of  Nazareth  came  teaching  a  gospel  of 
human  and  divine  love.  He  sought  to  persuade  men  to  love 
God  with  all  their  hearts  and  their  neighbors  as  themselves ; 
to  manifest  forgiveness,  kindness,  and  always  to  be  merci¬ 
ful.  He  lived  a  beautiful  life,  exercising  filial  trust  and 
obedience  toward  God,  walked  among  sinful  men  and  women, 
living  a  stainless  life.  He  went  about  doing  good  and  heal¬ 
ing  all  manner  of  diseases.  The  world,  with  all  its  burdens 
of  sin  and  sorrow,  heartbreak  and  death,  had  need  of  him. 
It  should  have  welcomed  him  with  loud  acclaim.  But  the 
facts  prove  that  it  could  not  make  room  for  him.  Strange 
situation !  It  could  not  provide  a  place  for  the  holy  and 
loving  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  It  even  sought  to  rid  itself  of  his 
influence  by  calling  him  a  son  of  Beelzebub,  repudiated  his 
message  as  worse  than  a  blasphemy,  and  condemned  his 
ministry  as  a  crime  against  society  and  religion.  Parties 
and  classes  after  long  standing  feuds  came  to  a  temporary 
truce  and  joined  forces  against  him,  that  they  might  effectu¬ 
ally  crush  him.  He  was  condemned  to  the  cross  for  cruci¬ 
fixion  under  the  extreme  penalty  of  shame  and  agony,  a  fate 
that  was  reserved  for  the  worst  of  malefactors.  What  did 
that  tragedy  of  goodness  mean?  It  placed  the  cross  of 
Calvary  on  a  promontory  of  time,  within  sight  of  all  genera¬ 
tions  of  men,  where  it  could  become  the  revelation  of  the 
deceit  and  turpitude,  the  wickedness  and  stupidity,  the 
abandon  and  depravity  of  the  human  heart.  It  also  released 
in  the  world  a  new  moral  attraction — the  magnetism  of  the 


90 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


cross.  Multitudes  of  every  generation  since  its  establishment 
have  thronged  in  imagination  to  it  and  looked  upon  that 
crucifixion  to  feel  the  thrill  of  it,  to  shed  a  tear  of  sympathy, 
to  feel  rebuke  by  his  faith,  to  turn  away  and  say,  “That  was 
not  a  tragedy,  that  was  a  sacrifice.”  Human  sin  wrought  that 
crucifixion.  Human  perfidy  erected  that  cross,  and  its  con¬ 
templation  shall  never  cease  to  bring  a  rebuke  to  man’s  soul 
and  measure  the  capacity  of  goodness  to  suffer  at  the  hand 
of  iniquity. 

We  Are  Prone  to  See  Only  one  cross  on  Calvary,  but 
there  were  three.  Each  one  has  a  moral  significance.  The 
first  is  the  cross  of  retributive  justice — that  of  the  unrepent¬ 
ant  thief ;  the  second  and  central,  the  cross  of  redemptive 
justice — that  of  the  suffering  Saviour;  the  third,  the  cross  of 
mediative  justice — that  of  the  repentant  malefactor.  Further¬ 
more,  they  illustrate  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  whose 
work  is  to  convict  of  sin  and  of  righteousness  and  judgment 
to  come.  Conviction  working  repentance  rested  upon  one. 
Judgment  producing  hardness  and  indifference  fell  upon  an¬ 
other.  Righteousness  rested  upon  him  who  could  pray  in 
the  midst  of  his  agony,  “Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do.”  We  do  not  stop  to  inquire,  “What  brought 
Jesus  to  his  cross?”  The  answer  is  not  difficult:  “The  princi¬ 
ple  of  love  arrayed  against  the  force  and  might  of  man.” 
But  it  thrusts  upon  us  the  myster}^  of  sin,  of  pain  and  suf¬ 
fering  innocence.  It  forces  Calvary  upon  human  thought  as 
the  culmination  of  the  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  and  the 
mystery  about  which  reason  has  wrought,  as  with  an  age-long 
problem,  and  in  which  the  affections  of  man  have  found  their 
perennial  renewal.  It  also  determines  our  moral  judgment. 
By  the  cross  we  stand  or  fall.  By  our  attitude  toward  the 
Christ  of  Calvary  we  take  our  place  with  the  repentant 
or  the  scoffers.  For  the  great  sin  a  man  commits  is  not  what 
he  may  do  so  much  as  the  attitude  he  may  take  in  a  moment 
of  time  toward  the  crucified  Christ.  With  one  malefactor 
all  the  evil  of  his  life  did  not  count  in  shutting  him  out  of 
paradise.  It  was  not  what  he  had  done,  but  what  he  would 
do  before  the  suffering  Christ.  He  did  the  right  thing  at 
that  moment,  and  was  saved.  It  is,  therefore,  doubly  assured 
that  in  the  end  we  are  judged  by  our  relation  to  the  cross 
of  Christ.  It  is  the  dominant  principle  of  our  moral  world 


FOR  THE  DISTRESSED  SOUL 


9i 


which  we  shall  without  doubt  discover  before  this  study  is 
completed. 

The  Radical  Type 

In  full  sight  of  Calvary  we  come  to  study  the  evangelism 
of  the  cross.  It  is  here  we  find  the  day  of  settlement  for  the 
radical  soul.  Some  men  are  of  that  disposition  which  pushes 
them  to  the  extreme.  They  cannot  be  conservative.  They 
by  nature  take  to  the  open  field.  They  refuse  to  be  controlled 
by  any  restrictions,  or  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of  pre¬ 
cedent.  They  fly  to  the  extreme  and  accept  only  one  view 
point,  disavowing  any  other.  In  their  opposition  they  are 
turbulent  and  radical.  They  refuse  to  listen  to  reason,  but 
obey  the  dictates  of  impulse  and  rashness.  Such  men  gen¬ 
erally  come  to  grief.  They  are  seldom  corrected,  and  are 
never  recovered  from  their  wrong  attitude,  save  by  a  crisis 
that  threatens  crucifixion  and  death.  It  is  always  the  radical 
type  that  finds  the  cross  the  redemption  of  the  soul.  Radical¬ 
ism  will  work  the  undoing  of  either  a  good  man  or  a  bad 
man,  if  permitted  uninterruptedly  to  control  the  life.  In  the 
good  man  it  works  fanaticism.  In  the  bad  man  it  supports 
unreasonableness,  closes  the  avenues  of  the  mind  to  truth, 
and  induces  it  to  take  pleasure  in  falsehood  and  vilification. 

There  is  only  one  avenue  open  to  reach  the  radical  type. 
Being  unamenable  to  reason,  he  must  go  the  full  course  of 
his  wrongdoing  before  an  opportunity  for  his  recovery  ap¬ 
pears.  Even  then  it  is  only  a  mere  chance.  He  finally  comes 
to  take  his  punishment.  For  the  evil  he  has  done  comes  back 
home  to  him,  or  the  law  he  has  violated  after  giving  liberty 
through  the  years  at  last  intercepts  him.  But  punishment  is 
not  always  corrective.  That  depends  on  the  man  himself, 
in  what  spirit  he  receives  it,  or  what  influences  are  brought 
to  bear  upon  him  to  soften  his  heart.  A  man’s  heart  under 
the  process  of  suffering  is  as  frequently  hardened  as  softened, 
for  it  is  within  the  power  of  a  human  soul  to  harden  itself 
until  it  becomes  shrunken  into  such  a  tough  and  irreducible 
mass  that  the  very  grace  of  God  can  do  nothing  with  it.  An 
interesting  illustration  of  this  is  found  in  the  Old  Testament 
story  of  God’s  dealing  with  the  Pharaoh  of  Egypt.  His  heart 
was  hardened  by  the  signs  and  wonders  and  plagues,  while 
by  the  same  means  the  heart  of  Israel  was  tendered  to  faith 


92 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


and  obedient  action.  Did  God  harden  the  hearts  of  the 
Egyptians?  The  instrumentality  of  grace  to  one  was  con¬ 
demnation  and  ruin  to  the  other.  Why  was  this  true?  It 
was  the  fault  of  the  Egyptian  himself,  just  as  it  is  the  fault 
of  any  man  who  permits  suffering  and  defeat,  disappoint¬ 
ment  and  loss  to  make  him  bitter  and  resentful,  while  the 
same  experience  to  another  produces  humility,  sweetness,  faith 
in  Christ,  and  an  increased  effort  at  moral  rectitude.  For 
it  is  a  law  of  God’s  universe  that  the  means  of  hardening 
are  ever  means  naturally  intended  to  soften  and  win.  There 
remains  a  mystery  in  dealing  with  the  radical  type,  not  easily 
solved,  that  only  one  out  of  two  when  even  driven  to  the 
cross  by  retributive  justice  recovers  himself  to  repentance 
and  God,  even  under  the  appeal  of  the  personal  presence  of 
our  crucified  Lord. 

The  Sympathetic  Approach 

The  only  means  of  dealing  with  the  extreme  radical  type 
is  that  of  the  sympathetic  approach.  This  one  opens  only 
as  the  cross  of  penalty  brings  the  offender  to  face  the  record 
of  his  wrongdoing.  Then  reason  has  no  voice,  and  argument 
is  without  avail.  For  you  are  dealing  with  a  soul,  not  a  sound 
and  calculating  mind.  You  must  tactically  deal  with  preju¬ 
dices  and  ill  will  and  maneuver  with  soreness  and  narrow¬ 
ness  and  highly  sensitized  combativeness.  Only  experience 
wins  at  this  point.  The  emotions  are  all  active  and  easy  of 
approach.  If  one  has  had  a  similar  experience,  can  show  his 
own  wounds,  can  demonstrate  his  own  recovery,  can  produce 
a  bond  of  sympathy  by  a  common  experience,  he  can  success¬ 
fully  approach  a  soul  when  punishment  is  working  the  penalty 
of  the  law. 

The  spiritual  insight  of  our  Lord  at  this  point  is  almost 
intuitive.  When  he  found  a  man  suffering  under  the  penalty 
of  his  own  or  some  one  else’s  sins,  he  never  stopped  to  in¬ 
quire  who  was  morally  responsible.  He  restored  him  to 
health.  He  never  condemned  or  upbraided  men.  He  seemed 
to  fail  even  to  carefully  diagnose  the  case  of  those  ap¬ 
pealing  to  him  for  help.  He  asked  nothing  about  the  past, 
neither  questioned  them  why  they  did  not  have  enough  judg¬ 
ment  to  keep  out  of  sin.  He  healed  them,  demonstrating  a 
sympathy  for  their  need  that  had  a  profound  sense  of  pity. 


FOR  THE  DISTRESSED  SOUL 


93 


To  those  suffering  through  the  operation  of  the  penalty  of 
a  violated  law  he  is  able  to  present  his  own  wounds,  suffered 
not  through  but  by  the  direct  malignant  resentment  of  his 
fellow  men.  By  this  means  he  was  able  to  say,  “I  have 
suffered  also,”  and  immediately  found  a  way  of  approach  over 
the  common  ground  of  sympathy.  The  radical  type  of 
offenders  against  God’s  law  and  that  of  society  can  be  dealt 
with  only  by  the  sympathetic  approach,  because  that  is  not 
the  way  of  reproach,  but  of  pity  and  tenderness  and  ministry. 
Indeed,  in  the  character  of  Christ  it  is  central.  It  is  the  one 
passion  that  makes  the  lowest  indispensable  to  the  highest, 
the  lost  sheep  to  the  mighty  compassion  of  the  great  shep¬ 
herd,  and  the  penitent  malefactor  to  the  matchless  power  of 
Christ  to  open  a  way  from  the  very  gates  of  hell  to  the 
paradise  of  God. 

The  Evangelism  of  the  Cross 

The  appeal  to  the  imagination  of  men  by  the  crucified 
Christ  has  always  had  direct  approach  to  the  emotions  and 
moral  will.  Somehow  men  looking  upon  him  in  his  suffer¬ 
ing  find  a  tender  compassion  rising  within  them  for  expres¬ 
sion.  In  fact,  it  is  the  universal  judgment,  that  anyone  re¬ 
sisting  that  appeal  is  hardened  and  calloused  beyond  hope 
of  recovery.  At  the  heart  then  of  the  gospel  message  is  the 
crucified  Lord.  This  appeal  of  suffering  love  becomes  the 
dynamic  of  the  gospel  appeal.  When  it  fails  on  an  individual, 
he  is  gospel  hardened  and  beyond  recovery.  The  cross, 
then,  contains  the  ultimate  strategy  of  the  evangelism  of 
Jesus.  It  is  as  many-sided  as  life  itself,  and  no  hard-and-fast 
doctrine  can  be  drawn  from  the  truth  it  contains;  but  at  the 
final  analysis  it  expresses  a  fundamental  law  of  God’s  uni¬ 
verse,  namely,  that  sacrifice  is  the  supreme  condition  of  peace 
and  increase  of  life,  that  self-surrender  is  the  secret  of  self- 
realization. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Jesus  found  the  cross  before 
he  ascended  Calvary.  In  reality,  he  made  it  the  sign  of  disci- 
pleship  when  he  declared,  “If  any  man  will  come  after  me, 
let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me.” 
That  was  the  evangelism  of  the  cross,  before  the  day  of 
crucifixion.  Cross-bearing  is  the  test  of  discipleship,  and 
crosses  are  borne,  not  to  fulfill  the  duty  of  the  task,  but 


94 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


that  some  day  a  Calvary  may  be  found  where  through  cruci¬ 
fixion  a  man  may  be  rid  of  his  cross.  What,  then,  shall  we 
infer  was  his  teaching  on  cross-bearing?  Fundamentally, 
that  it  was  the  normal  law  of  every  life,  regulated  by  a 
supreme  devotion  to  the  heavenly  kingdom.  Such  cross¬ 
bearing  has  a  double  side,  each  of  which  is  marked  by  three 
lines  of  activity.  In  the  believer’s  life  among  men  there  are 
three  ways  over  which  he  may  go  to  his  Calvary:  First, 
always  witnessing  for  truth  against  falsehood,  with  a  spirit 
of  courage  and  decision;  second,  always  loving  and  seeking 
to  serve  those  whom  society  has  cast  out  and  done  its  best 
to  ruin ;  third,  always  protesting  by  word  and  deed  against 
lending  sanction  to  any  moral  system  that  makes  an  artificial 
distinction  between  virtue  and  sin.  Let  a  man  persistently 
shoulder  his  cross  and  proceed  over  any  one  of  those  ways, 
as  it  was  Christ’s  experience,  he  will  inevitably  find  his 
Calvary.  The  other  side  of  cross-bearing  is  that  of  the 
inner  life.  It  also  has  three  lines  of  travel.  First,  the  line 
of  cross-bearing  that  works  the  final  crucifixion  of  self  is 
that  of  always  and  persistently  submitting  to  the  intellectual 
authority  of  Christ.  Second,  the  bringing  into  obedience  to 
him  all  dispositional  cravings  and  enjoyments,  the  denying 
ourselves  that  natural  expression  of  temperament  that  would 
offend  a  delicate  Christian  conscience.  Third,  the  mortifying  of 
the  lower  passions  and  instincts  that  secure  the  dominance  of 
the  physical  life  over  that  of  the  higher  interests  of  the 
soul.  Let  any  man  take  up  his  cross  along  any  of  these  lines 
and  he  will  soon  arrive  at  his  Calvary.  But  it  must  be  re¬ 
membered  that  Calvary  is  not  something  altogether  un¬ 
desirable.  It  accomplishes  the  death  of  the  old  life,  disposes 
of  the  burden  of  the  cross,  and  hastens  the  day  of  the  resur¬ 
rection  into  a  new  life,  in  which  we  can  say  with  Saint  Paul, 
“I  am  crucified  with  Christ :  nevertheless  I  live ;  yet  not  I, 
but  Christ  liveth  in  me :  and  the  life  which  I  now  live  in  the 
flesh  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me, 
and  gave  himself  for  me”  (Gal.  2.  20). 

The  evangelism  of  the  cross  culminates  in  the  presentation 
of  the  reconciling  and  redeeming  work  of  Christ.  In  his 
suffering  and  death  is  his  revelation  of  grace,  of  sin  and  of 
humanity.  But  central  must  be  seen  the  expression  of  the 
holiness  of  God’s  love,  for  a  realization  of  this  deepens  error 
into  sin,  sin  into  guilt,  guilt  into  repentance,  and  repentance 


FOR  THE  DISTRESSED  SOUL 


95 


into  forgiveness  that  is  not  an  anodyne  of  self-flattery  through 
the  operation  of  autosuggestion,  but  a  real  and  lasting  peace 
of  soul  through  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  God’s 
favor. 

The  Repentant  Malefactor 

Out  of  that  Calvary  group  has  gone  an  imperishable  and 
irresistible  influence.  The  contrast  of  character  is  unsur¬ 
passed.  The  association  of  dissimilar  personalities  and  the 
profound  contact  they  make  upon  each  other  affords  an  in¬ 
teresting  psychological  study.  Jesus  of  Nazareth  pays  the 
price  of  preaching  to  men  the  gospel  of  faith,  hope,  love, 
honesty,  sobriety,  and  for  his  faith  in  himself  as  a  man  called 
of  God  to  fulfill  the  hopes,  answer  the  anticipations  of  Israel, 
and  make  glad  the  hearts  of  the  broken  and  downtrodden. 
The  two  malefactors  come  to  the  same  end,  and  the  same 
place,  and  the  same  suffering,  and  receive  the  same  punish¬ 
ment  for  doing  the  opposite,  for  rebelling  against  God,  disre¬ 
garding  his  law,  turning  against  their  fellows,  and  living  a  law¬ 
less  and  defiant  life — a  strange  contrast  of  extreme  opposites. 
What  will  Jesus  do  in  the  presence  of  these  men?  Will  he 
seek  to  win  them  over  to  faith  in  him?  Will  he  even  reveal 
a  consciousness  of  any  interest  in  them,  or  will  he  display 
a  weakening  of  faith  in  himself  and  the  purpose  of  his  life? 
Will  he  betray  an  inner  collapse  when  he  discovers  that  his 
fate  is  that  of  a  common  malefactor?  Get  the  picture  before 
the  mind  with  all  its  many  details.  It  is  loaded  with  elements 
of  psychological  interest.  The  cross  of  Christ  does  not  stand 
alone.  Those  hours  on  Calvary  were  the  supreme  test  of  his 
life.  The  world  from  that  day  to  this  has  been  asking,  ‘What 
did  he  do  then?”  There  he  met  the  common  fate  of  men 
whom  he  came  to  save.  Indeed,  he  demonstrated  that  a 
man  can  live  the  righteous  life  so  sincerely  that  it  will  rebuke 
the  shallow,  artificial  life  of  the  best  among  men,  that  they 
will  condemn  him  to  death  on  the  level  of  the  worst  of  cul¬ 
prits. 

What  did  Jesus  do  in  the  hour  of  the  world’s  reaction 
against  him?  What  did  he  do  in  his  reduced  estate  with  a 
condemned  man  on  each  side  of  him,  and  a  scoffing  and 
unsympathetic  crowd  about  him?  His  cross  can  never  be 
studied  apart  from  that  of  the  two  malefactors.  It  is  eternally 


96 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


associated  with  them.  The  supernatural  elements  of  his 
personality  stand  out  supremely.  During  those  hours  he 
appears  as  more  than  man.  He  was  endued  with  power 
that  no  man  has  ever  possessed.  The  very  tragic  ending  of 
his  life  on  earth  secured  the  survival  of  his  influence  and 
the  worship  of  his  personality  as  the  revelation  of  the  Son 
of  God. 

In  the  hour  of  physical  breakdown  the  influence  of  spiritual 
power  did  not  lose  its  control  over  him.  He  was  still 
the  Physician  of  men  and  the  Comforter  of  their  souls.  Pie 
remained  conscious  to  the  very  last  of  the  presence  of  God 
and  the  fulfillment  of  his  purpose  in  his  life.  Would  his 
conduct  influence  those  in  fellowship  with  his  suffering? 
Would  his  fortitude  and  faith  affect  them?  Yonder  the 
crowd  stands  jeering,  “He  saved  others;  let  him  save  him¬ 
self,  if  he  be  the  Christ,  the  chosen  of  God.”  The  soldiers 
near  cast  lots  for  his  raiment,  mocked  him,  offered  him 
vinegar  saying,  “If  thou  be  the  king  of  the  Jews,  save  thy¬ 
self.”  This  was  the  final  attack  upon  his  faith,  a  direct  assault 
on  the  very  citadel  of  his  soul.  We  see  him  receive  it  and 
hear  him  pray,  “Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not 
what  they  do.”  That  was  victory.  That  spirit  could  never 
be  reduced  even  by  the  most  horrid  death.  That  was  the 
triumphant  moment.  The  two  malefactors  at  first  joined  in 
the  attack  of  raillery  upon  him.  Finally  the  center  of  interest 
passes  from  the  cross  of  Jesus  to  that  of  one  of  his  associates. 
That  prayer  of  forgiveness  for  the  persecutors  was  more  than 
he  could  stand.  It  broke  up  his  resistance,  dissipated  his 
resentment,  reconciled  his  spirit.  He  rebukes  his  companion 
in  crime  and  appeals  to  Jesus  as  Lord,  begging  to  be  remem¬ 
bered  when  he  comes  into  his  kingdom. 

The  Change  of  Attitude  on  the  Part  of  the  Penitent 
Thief  was  so  radical  that  it  presents  a  number  of  points  for 
psychological  study. 

First.  His  attitude  toward  the  other  malefactor.  He  had 
first  a  reaction  in  his  own  mind  against  the  heckling  of  one 
who  was  suffering  as  they  were.  That  incomparable  spirit 
of  forgiveness  had  turned  his  thoughts  inward.  He  was  made 
to  think  of  God.  That  struck  the  depths  of  fear  in  his  soul. 
He  rebukes  his  companion  saying,  “Dost  not  thou  fear  God, 
seeing  thou  art  in  the  same  condemnation?”  The  soul's 


FOR  THE  DISTRESSED  SOUL 


97 


response  to  that  elemental  appeal — the  thought  of  God — has 
its  effect.  In  the  tragedy  of  the  soul  there  is  nothing  that 
produces  calm  and  creates  an  attitude  of  awe  more  quickly 
than  the  introduction  of  the  thought  of  God.  Derision  at 
least  from  the  cross  ceased.  Futhermore,  he  manifested  the 
change  of  spirit  in  his  own  heart  by  acknowledging  his  own 
wrongdoing:  “We  receive  the  due  reward  for  our  deeds.” 
This  reveals  the  progress  he  made  from  introspection  to 
repentance,  from  repentance  to  confession,  from  confession 
to  conversion.  He  acknowledges  the  justice  of  God  in  the 
punishment  of  their  sins.  However,  he  does  not  stop  here; 
he  goes  further  and  confesses  his  faith  in  the  integrity  of 
Jesus  who  is  suffering  punishment  on  the  other  cross;  say¬ 
ing,  “He  has  done  nothing  amiss.”  That  was  a  recognition 
of  Jesus,  of  more  than  passing  comment.  It  meant  that  one 
of  the  malefactors  at  least  realized  that  he  was  not  of  their 
class,  that  while  he  was  with  them  he  was  not  of  them.  What 
would  they  have  said  if  the  high  priest  Caiaphas  or  Annas, 
or  Herod,  or  Pontius  Pilate  had  been  crucified  with  them? 
The  majesty  of  the  personality  of  Jesus  came  into  its  fullest 
possession  of  evangelistic  power  on  the  cross. 

Second.  The  second  point  of  psychological  interest  is  that 
of  his  attitude  toward  Jesus.  His  prayer,  “Lord,  remember 
me  when  thou  comest  into  thy  kingdom,”  was  recognition  of 
the  kingly  claims  of  Jesus,  which  without  doubt  were  strangely 
in  eclipse  at  that  moment.  A  crucified  man  on  his  way  to  a 
kingdom — how  strange  and  contradictory !  They  were  both 
in  the  shadow  of  death,  but  one  was  coming  to  a  crown. 
What  inscrutable  influence  could  produce  that  impression  on 
the  mind  of  a  dying  man?  That  kingdom  could  not  have 
been  on  this  earth.  It  implies  faith  in  a  future  life,  a  survival 
of  the  catastrophe  of  death.  He  did  not  pray  for  deliverance 
from  the  cross,  but  for  provision  for  himself  after  it  had  done, 
its  work.  The  expression  of  faith  in  this  prayer  is  unusual. 
It  witnesses  to  belief  in  the  moral  integrity  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  to  the  truthfulness  of  his  claims  as  the  Messiah 
of  Israel,  to  the  survival  of  the  soul  after  death,  to  the 
reality  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  to  the  trustworthiness 
of  his  own  repentance.  The  spirit  of  humility  in  the  prayer 
is  almost  pathetic.  If  there  is  pity  in  the  heart  of  God,  that 
prayer  would  find  its  goal.  “Lord,  remember  me.”  He  does 
not  pray,  “Prefer  me,”  “Honor  me,”  “Give  me  a  place  on  thy 


98 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


right  hand  when  thou  comest  into  thy  kingdom,”  but  “Re¬ 
member  me.”  He  had  no  claim,  no  cause  to  plead.  If  Jesus 
would  remember  him,  that  would  be  enough  to  permit  him 
to  suffer  and  die  in  peace. 

The  attitude  of  Jesus  toward  the  repentant  sufferer  pre¬ 
sents  a  number  of  problems  that  only  faith  can  accept. 
First,  he  met  his  change  of  demeanor  with  a  frankness  that 
was  the  full  expression  of  the  spirit  he  had  always  manifested 
toward  men  in  difficulty.  The  penitent  commits  himself  to 
Jesus,  who  without  reserve  receives  him.  The  man’s  past 
life,  his  record,  his  habits,  his  godlessness,  do  not  seem  to 
enter  now  into  the  case.  At  the  very  threshold  of  death, 
at  the  last  moment,  when  there  was  no  time  for  reparation, 
no  time  for  building  character ;  when  he  could  not  be  saved 
for  this  world,  when  he  could  not  be  given  another  chance, 
when  he  could  not  possibly  be  saved  by  his  record,  he  sur¬ 
renders  himself  to  Jesus  Christ  and  the  mercy  of  God. 
He  accepts  by  faith  the  promise  made  him  at  that  moment, 
“To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise”:  after  the  cross, 
paradise;  after  death,  life  and  boundless  joy. 

What  did  Jesus  mean  by  “paradise”?  An  invisible  world, 
a  place  destined  and  prepared  for  them.  Not  a  state  of  un¬ 
conscious  blessedness;  not  an  existence  of  nonpersonal  sur¬ 
vival  in  Deity,  but  a  life  with  him,  not  in  him,  nor  of  him. 
That  means  conscious  joy,  for  to  be  with  him  is  paradise. 
There — where — means  location,  means  place,  means  distinc¬ 
tive  individualistic  existence,  personal  immortality.  “To-day” 
— immediate  upon  death ;  “with  me,”  the  souls  of  those  who 
trust  in  him,  being  delivered  from  the  burden  of  the  flesh, 
are  in  joy  and  felicity  with  Christ  in  his  paradise  of  God. 
This  is  his  answer  to  all  questions  about  the  life  after  death. 
We  cannot  know  more.  This  given  in  the  words  of  Christ 
if  accepted  by  faith  and  cherished  in  love  will  quiet  the  heart 
and  support  the  mind  as  it  is  thrust  by  time  and  human  ex¬ 
perience  against  the  impenetrable  darkness  of  the  unknown 
world  beyond  the  gates  of  death. 

The  crucifixion  scene  at  a  final  analysis  suggests  three 
fundamental  questions : 

First.  How  far  may  a  man  go  in  sin  before  moral  recovery 
become  impossible?  When  two  men  are  placed  in  the  same 
circumstances,  one  will  repent  and  the  other  remain  un¬ 
touched.  Why  is  this  true?  It  is  the  difference  between  the 


FOR  THE  DISTRESSED  SOUL 


eg 


men  themselves.  It  may  mean  one  of  two  things  in  the  case 
of  the  unrepentant.  The  right  approach  may  not  have  been 
used,  or  he  may  have  hardened  himself  by  continuous  viola¬ 
tion  of  God’s  law  and  resistance  to  his  conscience,  that  all 
the  finer  feelings  within  are  dead.  However,  this  must  not  be 
passed  over  lightly.  Few  men  by  a  lifelong  course  of  sinning 
so  pervert  their  spiritual  perceptions  that  they  can  look  upon 
the  cross  of  Christ  with  its  appeal  of  suffering  love  without 
breaking  before  it.  When  sin  no  longer  cuts  a  gash  in  the 
conscience,  when  there  thrusts  no  hurt  at  the  thought  of 
wickedness,  when  the  burden  of  iniquity  rests  upon  the 
shoulders  as  a  light  weight,  when  the  soul  comes  not  to  care 
and  commits  itself  in  abandon  to  wrongdoing,  then  it  may  be 
said  that  the  zone  of  the  irrecoverable  lost  has  been  reached. 
But  it  should  be  stated  that  no  man  can  judge  when  his 
fellow  man  has  passed  over  that  divide.  For  it  is  verily  true 
that  no  matter  how  far  a  man  may  go  into  sin,  his  heart  is 
never  as  far  away  from  God  as  his  life. 

Christ  taught  that  there  is  a  sin  for  which  there  is  no 
forgiveness.  He  designated  it  as  the  sin  against  the  Holy 
Spirit.  By  that  he  meant  a  persistent  refusal  to  accredit  the 
voice  of  right  and  wrong  that  God  has  placed  in  man,  which 
course  attributes  that  which  is  of  God  to  the  devil.  More 
remotely  it  stands  for  the  violation  of  that  inner  protest, 
that  moral  revulsion  against  the  thing  that  sickens  all  the 
sensibilities  until  a  man  can  walk  into  the  blackest  sin  with¬ 
out  a  tremor.  It  means  that  in  the  case  of  a  soul  sinning 
against  its  finer  feelings  slowly  the  spiritual  sense  begins  to 
weaken  until  the  inexorable  law  of  atrophy  demands  the  full 
payment  of  its  violation,  and  the  fine  spiritual  sensibilities 
through  disuse  or  misuse  begin  to  disappear.  The  keen  sense 
of  right  and  wrong  is  reduced.  The  inner  light  that  throws 
its  radiance  over  the  life  of  the  soul  grows  dim.  The  man 
at  the  last  walks  in  inner  darkness — like  the  impenitent  thief, 
even  on  the  cross  of  his  own  crucifixion,  can  look  upon  the 
suffering  Christ  and  never  feel  a  pang  of  conscience  or  a 
thrust  of  self-condemnation. 

There  are  scientific  thinkers  who  readily  dispose  of  this 
question  by  avowing  that  the  persistent  course  of  a  godless  life 
sends  all  men  over  the  irrecoverable  brink.  They  claim 
character  becomes  set  and  in  maturity  is  unalterable.  Habits 
of  thought,  tastes,  passions,  appetites,  make  the  man.  What 


100 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


he  is  then  cannot  be  modified.  If  a  man  neglects  Christ,  it 
is  claimed  he  not  only  misses  salvation,  but  loses  the  capacity 
to  enjoy  it  should  he  have  the  opportunity  to  receive  it.  This 
teaching  locks  plausible  until  the  soul  itself  is  taken  into 
account.  There  is  a  point  beyond  which  its  integrity  cannot 
be  reduced.  The  more  it  is  confined  in  darkness,  the  brighter 
it  shines.  It  may  be  a  small  flame,  but  nothing  we  do  or  say 
can  destroy  it.  If  that  were  possible,  the  annihilation  of  the 
soul  would  be  a  reality,  and  it  could  be  brought  about  by 
man  himself.  A  soul  may  still  exist  and  be  beyond  the 
redemptive  grace  of  God,  or  else  the  future  life  contains  no 
punitive  justice  for  those  who  do  not  receive  it  here. 

Second.  How  can  a  man  be  saved  at  the  last  moment  of 
his  life  when  his  record  would  end  him  in  perdition?  Is 
there  salvation  without  the  possibility  of  living  the  Christian 
life?  To  what  extent  is  a  death-bed  repentance  to  be  valued? 
When  a  man’s  life  has  been  lived  apart  from  God,  when  at 
times  it  has  risen  to  open  rebellion  against  the  approaches  of 
his  spirit,  there  is  small  chance  for  an  awakening  in  his  last 
moments.  Only  a  few  men  repent  and  turn  to  God  at  the 
gates  of  death.  Some  do  as  the  penitent  thief.  How  is  it 
possible?  No  man  can  explain  the  psychology  of  it.  The 
fact  is  that  men  do  in  their  last  moments  awaken  spiritually, 
cry  unto  God,  and  are  saved.  How  can  God  do  it  and  pre¬ 
serve  the  integrity  of  his  moral  universe?  By  the  exercise 
of  his  infinite  mercy,  which  may  act  when  appealed  to  with 
as  much  power  as  the  immutable  laws  he  has  placed  in  opera¬ 
tion  in  his  universe.  Then  our  conclusion  on  this  point  must 
be  that,  after  all,  by  an  appeal  to  mercy  a  man  may  be  saved 
regardless  of  his  moral  record. 

Third.  What,  then,  is  the  specific  that  works  the  salvation 
of  the  soul  of  man?  What  is  the  answer  to  this  question? 
Repentance  toward  God  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Character  and  a  record  of  personal  righteousness  are  not 
the  total  factors  at  the  last  analysis  in  the  salvation  of  the 
soul.  The  great  and  indispensable  fundamental  is  faith. 
Faith,  however,  is  potential  character.  Christ  made  it  the 
only  and  sufficient  condition  of  admission  to  the  kingdom 
of  God — faith  alone  with  reference  to  repentance,  with 
reference  to  sin,  with  reference  to  forgiveness,  with  reference 
to  Christ  as  a  personal  Saviour.  For  faith  has  a  strange 
fascination  for  the  soul.  In  its  exercise  it  exerts  all  its 


FOR  THE  DISTRESSED  SOUL 


IOI 


energies  of  apprehension  on  the  one  hand,  and  receptivity 
on  the  other.  In  its  highest  ranges  it  is  purely  a  soul  function 
that  works  when  set  upon  Jesus  Christ,  the  transformation  of 
the  soul,  the  modification  of  its  powers,  and  the  regeneration 
of  its  moral  desires.  Jesus  Christ,  then,  must  be  appreciated 
as  Saviour.  Man  cannot  save  himself.  He  has  no  power  of 
self-regeneration,  nor  spiritual  perception  which  of  itself  can 
find  its  way  to  God.  Faith  in  him  is  the  medium  of  salvation. 
The  penitent  malefactor,  caught  up  at  the  last  moment  after 
a  reckless  and  godless  life,  paid  the  earthly  penalty  of  his 
wrongdoing,  but  by  committal  of  himself  to  Christ  entered 
with  him  into  the  paradise  of  God. 

Conclusion.  Every  man  should  some  day  find  his  Calvary. 
Before  he  can  go  free  his  evil  self  must  be  crucified.  It  was 
not  intended  by  our  Lord  that  those  who  love  him  should 
always  find  a  cross  in  all  obedience  to  him.  He  has  intended 
that  a  Calvary  should  be  found.  He  says,  “Take  up  thy 
cross  and  follow  me.”  Follow  where?  Men  are  of  small 
service  with  crosses  on  their  backs.  Yes,  it  is  forward  with 
him  to  yonder  promontory.  If  a  man  goes  not,  he  remains 
in  the  common  conscience,  with  the  common  virtues,  with  the 
common  faith,  or  with  the  common  doubt  and  mediocrity. 
There  is  no  sainthood  for  him.  If  he  goes  out  upon  that 
height  bearing  his  cross,  he  will  be  taken  captive,  the  fright¬ 
ful  moment  of  dying  unto  self  will  mark  the  culmination  of 
his  crucifixion  unto  this  world.  Henceforth  he  will  become  a 
man  of  the  spirit,  blessed  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  a  man  of 
redeemed  powers,  a  thinker  dilated,  enlarged,  a  seer  dreaming 
dreams  and  holding  high  communion  with  his  Lord.  Hence¬ 
forth  a  certain  portion  of  his  life  belongs  to  the  spirit.  An 
element  of  the  boundless  enters  into  his  being,  into  his  con¬ 
science,  into  his  virtue,  into  his  faith.  He  is  a  man  having 
followed  Christ  to  Calvary,  and  returns  in  newness  of  life 
as  one  having  walked  on  the  boundless  heights  with  God. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  CLASS  STUDY 

1.  What  is  a  radical  type? 

2.  What  is  a  sympathetic  approach? 

3.  What  is  the  evangelism  of  the  cross? 

4.  Was  the  death  of  Jesus  a  tragedy  or  a  sacrifice? 


102 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


5.  What  are  the  facts  in  the  story  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth? 

6.  Give  a  characterization  of  the  three  crosses  on  Calvary. 

7.  Give  a  characterization  of  the  penitent  malefactor. 

8.  How  did  Jesus  compose  himself  upon  the  cross? 

9.  What  was  it  in  Jesus  that  appealed  to  the  penitent  thief? 

10.  What  was  the  attitude  of  Jesus  toward  those  who 
suffered  with  him? 

11.  What  did  Jesus  mean  by  “paradise”? 

12.  What  three  things  does  a  final  analysis  of  the  cruci¬ 
fixion  seem  to  suggest? 

13.  How  far  can  a  man  go  in  sin  and  be  recovered? 

14.  What  was  it  that  saved  the  penitent  thief? 

15.  Why  is  it  that  the  same  experience  will  draw  some 
men  to  God  and  drive  others  away  from  him? 


Paul,  a  saint  for  the  church,  a  great  man  for  humanity, 
represents  that  miracle — at  once  divine  and  human — conver¬ 
sion.  It  is  he  to  whom  the  future  has  appeared.  It  leaves 
him  haggard ;  and  nothing  can  be  more  superb  than  this  face, 
forever  wondering,  of  the  man  conquered  by  the  light.  Paul, 
born  a  Pharisee,  had  been  a  weaver  of  camels’  hair  for  tents, 
and  a  servant  of  one  of  the  judges  of  Jesus  Christ,  Gamaliel; 
then  the  scribes  perceiving  his  fierce  spirit,  had  educated  him. 
He  was  a  man  of  the  past,  he  had  guarded  the  clothes  of  the 
stone-throwers ;  he  aspired,  having  studied  with  the  priests, 
to  become  an  executioner ;  he  was  on  the  road  for  this.  All 
at  once  a  wave  of  light  emanates  from  the  darkness  and 
throws  him  down  from  his  horse;  and  henceforth  there  will 
be  in  the  history  of  the  human  race  that  wonderful  thing — 
the  road  to  Damascus.  That  day  of  the  metamorphosis  of 
Saint  Paul  is  a  great  day — keep  the  date ;  it  corresponds  to 
the  twenty-fifth  of  January  in  our  Gregorian  Calendar.  The 
road  to  Damascus  is  essential  to  the  march  of  progress.  To 
fall  into  the  truth  and  rise  a  just  man,  a  transfiguring  fall, 
that  too  is  sublime.  It  is  the  history  of  Saint  Paul ;  from 
his  day  it  will  be  the  history  of  humanity. — Victor  Hugo. 


CHAPTER  VI 


For  the  Violent  Soul 

The  Fanatical  Type 
The  Concealed  Approach 
Elemental  Evangelism 
The  Conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus 

Scripture  :  Acts  26.  1-23 

Then  Agrippa  said  unto  Paul,  Thou  art  permitted  to  speak 
for  thyself.  Then  Paul  stretched  forth  the  hand,  and  an¬ 
swered  for  himself : 

I  think  myself  happy,  King  Agrippa,  because  I  shall  answer 
for  myself  this  day  before  thee  touching  all  the  things  where¬ 
of  I  am  accused  of  the  Jews : 

Especially  because  I  know  thee  to  be  expert  in  all  customs 
and  questions  which  are  among  the  Jews:  wherefore  I  be¬ 
seech  thee  to  hear  me  patiently. 

My  manner  of  life  from  my  youth,  which  was  at  the  first 
among  mine  own  nation  at  Jerusalem,  know  all  the  Jews; 

Which  knew  me  from  the  beginning  if  they  would  testify, 
that  after  the  most  straitest  sect  of  our  religion  I  lived  a 
Pharisee. 

And  now  I  stand  and  am  judged  for  the  hope  of  the 
promise  made  of  God  unto  our  fathers : 

Unto  which  promise  our  twelve  tribes,  instantly  serving 
God  day  and  night,  hope  to  come.  For  which  hope’s  sake, 
king  Agrippa,  I  am  accused  of  the  Jews. 

Why  should  it  be  thought  a  thing  incredible  with  you,  that 
God  should  raise  the  dead? 

I  verily  thought  with  myself,  that  I  ought  to  do  many 
things  contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

Which  thing  I  also  did  in  Jerusalem :  and  many  of  the 
saints  did  I  shut  up  in  prison,  having  received  authority  from 
the  chief  priests ;  and  when  they  were  put  to  death,  I  gave 
my  voice  against  them. 


105 


io6 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


And  I  punished  them  oft  in  every  synagogue,  and  compelled 
them  to  blaspheme ;  and  being  exceedingly  mad  against  them, 
I  persecuted  them  even  unto  strange  cities. 

Whereupon  as  I  went  to  Damascus  with  authority  and 
commission  from  the  chief  priests, 

At  midday,  O  king,  I  saw  in  the  way  a  light  from  heaven, 
above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  shining  round  about  me  and 
them  which  journeyed  with  me. 

And  when  we  were  all  fallen  to  the  earth,  I  heard  a  voice 
speaking  unto  me,  and  saying  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  Saul, 
Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?  it  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick 
against  the  pricks. 

And  I  said,  Who  art  thou,  Lord?  And  he  said,  I  am  Jesus 
whom  thou  persecutest. 

But  rise,  and  stand  upon  thy  feet :  for  I  have  appeared  unto 
thee  for  this  purpose,  to  make  thee  a  minister  and  a  witness 
both  of  these  things  which  thou  hast  seen,  and  of  those  things 
in  the  which  I  will  appear  unto  thee ; 

Delivering  thee  from  the  people,  and  from  the  Gentiles, 
unto  whom  now  I  send  thee, 

To  open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from  darkness  to 
light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,  that  they  may 
receive  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  inheritance  among  them  which 
are  sanctified  by  faith  that  is  in  me. 

Whereupon,  O  king  Agrippa,  I  was  not  disobedient  unto 
the  heavenly  vision : 

But  showed  first  unto  them  of  Damascus,  and  at  Jerusalem, 
and  throughout  all  the  coasts  of  Judaea,  and  then  to  the  Gen¬ 
tiles,  that  they  should  repent  and  turn  to  God,  and  do  works 
meet  for  repentance. 

For  these  causes  the  Jews  caught  me  in  the  temple,  and 
went  about  to  kill  me. 

Having  therefore  obtained  help  of  God,  I  continue  unto 
this  day,  witnessing  both  to  small  and  great,  saying  none 
other  things  than  those  which  the  prophets  and  Moses  did 
say  should  come : 

That  Christ  should  suffer,  and  that  he  should  be  the  first 
that  should  rise  from  the  dead,  and  should  show  light  unto 
the  people,  and  to  the  Gentiles. 

Prayer 

O  Lord,  we  thank  thee  for  thy  Holy  Spirit  which  has  been 
with  us  since  the  day  we  gave  our  hearts  to  Christ.  We 
have  needed  him,  more  than  we  shall  know,  until  we  go  to 
be  with  thee.  We  do  not  always  willingly  turn  our  thoughts 


FOR  THE  VIOLENT  SOUL 


107 


to  thee.  We  do  not  even  at  all  times  love  the  things  of  light 
and  truth.  Something  within  us  deadens  our  higher  aspira¬ 
tions,  and  seeks  to  pull  us  down  to  the  level  of  those  who  love 
not  Christ  and  live  a  godless  life.  We  do  not  understand 
why  we  must  suffer  these  experiences.  They  are  painful, 
and  we  hesitate  to  mention  them  unto  thee.  Thou  dost  know 
of  them  and  wilt  not  only  deal  patiently  with  us,  bid  enable 
by  the  Holy  Spirit’s  assistance  to  understand  how  the  reaction 
of  our  own  spirits  under  the  influence  of  thine  will  bring 
us  again  to  power  and  light. 

We  remember  our  moments  of  violence  against  thee.  When 
we  refused  inwardly  to  do  thy  will.  When  something  led  us 
to  say,  We  will  not  have  thee  to  rule  over  us.  Then  the  win¬ 
dows  of  our  souls  were  closed,  darkness  settled  about  us 
and  we  wrestled  with  our  evil  selves  even  unto  the  break  of 
day.  Then  with  the  victory  came  the  assurance  that  thy 
Spirit  had  not  departed  from  us,  but  rather  had  been  present, 
furnishing  motive  and  desire  for  the  struggle  that  brought 
us  back  into  self-control  and  favor  with  thee. 

We  thank  thee  for  the  presence  in  our  lives  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  We  thank  thee  that  he  comes  to  be  with  all  those 
who  give  their  hearts  to  Christ,  to  guide  and  empower,  to 
control  and  comfort,  to  encourage  and  enlighten.  We  thank 
thee  for  the  promise  of  that  coveted  experience  in  which 
he  is  promised  not  only  to  be  with  us,  but  in  us.  We 
have  meditated  on  the  words  of  our  Lord  when  he  said, 
“ I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give  you  another  Com¬ 
forter,  that  he  may  abide  with  you  forever;  even  the  Spirit 
of  truth;  whom  the  world  cannot  receive,  because  it  seeth 
him  not,  neither  knoweth  him:  but  ye  know  him;  for  he 
dwelleth  with  you,  and  shall  be  in  you.”  We  follow  in  faith 
and  anticipation  that  we  may  come  into  possession  of  the 
deep  things  of  the  Spirit.  Keep  us  faithful,  and  guide  us 
into  the  ways  of  usefulness,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
A  men. 

Introduction 

The  evangelism  of  Jesus  for  the  violent  soul  presents  one 
of  the  most  profound  studies  for  the  modern  psychologist. 
How  can  a  mind  generate  within  itself  forces  that  capture 
it  against  its  will?  There  are  mental  states  of  indecision 


io8 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


which  produce  a  struggle  between  two  opposing  forces,  either 
in  opinion  or  moral  impulse,  but  the  soul  maintains  its  throne 
of  judgment,  exercises  its  power  of  inhibition,  maintaining 
a  position  of  strange  neutrality  until  the  time  for  action 
arrives.  When  the  struggle  proceeds  until  an  effort  is  made 
to  thrust  upon  it  something  against  which  all  its  tastes  and 
sentiments  revolt,  there  appears  violent  opposition  which  con¬ 
tinues  until  the  soul  gains  its  former  poise  and  self-control. 
The  Christian  thinker  believes  that  a  soul  even  in  its  violent 
opposition  against  Christ  can  be  brought  to  faith  in  him. 
Indeed,  he  argues  that  God  has  provided  a  means  by  which 
the  mind  is  not  left  to  its  own  decision  whether  it  will  serve 
and  acknowledge  him.  By  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Scrip¬ 
ture  and  Christian  experience,  he  contends,  we  have  abundant 
reason  for  believing  that  objective  independent  influence  is 
brought  to  bear  upon  a  soul,  even  in  fanatical  opposition  to 
the  claims  of  Christ  to  bring  it  to  surrender.  This  work  of 
conviction  and  capture  of  a  resisting  soul  is  one  of  the  duties 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  best  illustration  of  this  is  the  ap¬ 
prehension  and  conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  on  the  road  to 
Damascus. 

The  Fanatical  Type 

It  is  then  to  the  fanatical  type  that  we  come  in  this  chap¬ 
ter.  A  man  in  his  opposition  to  the  truth  of  Christ  may  not 
be  radical.  He  may  be  indifferent.  He  becomes  an  extreme 
type  when  that  truth  begins  to  form  in  his  mind  an  impact 
against  his  resistance.  If  it  fails  to  reach  this  point,  it  will 
not  arouse  his  opposition.  The  very  fact  that  he  becomes 
active,  that  he  resents  the  approach  of  the  new  truth  in  his 
life,  proves  it  is  working  in  and  gaining  on  him.  He  is  com¬ 
pelled  to  resist.  The  fanatical  type  is  extreme  and  often  un¬ 
reasonable  in  its  opposition  against  the  claims  of  Christ.  He 
resists  with  all  his  soul,  frequently  under  the  motive  of  a 
conviction  that  he  is  right.  Being  pressed,  he  becomes  threat¬ 
ening  and  finally  violent.  Through  this  experience  often  a 
man  passes,  being  won  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  acknowledge 
Christ.  It  is  not  a  passing  experience  easily  explained.  All 
the  facts  cannot  be  accounted  for  within  the  sphere  of  a 
man’s  mental  life.  An  outside  influence  must  be  taken  into 
account.  Saul’s  journey  to  Damascus  as  a  fanatic  seeking 


FOR  THE  VIOLENT  SOUL 


109 


to  defend  and  preserve  the  age-long  truths  he  loved  and 
revered,  has  become  the  path  of  growth  for  all  great  souls. 
The  experience  found  there  an  illustration  of  how  enlarge¬ 
ment  of  mind  comes  by  the  inbreaking,  not  the  outbreaking, 
of  light,  and  reveals  that  marvelous  seizure  of  the  soul  by 
the  truth  of  Christ  that  cannot  be  explained  without  taking 
supernatural  influences  into  account. 

The  Concealed  Approach 

The  man  who  becomes  fanatical  and  violent  in  his  opposi¬ 
tion  to  Christ  cannot  be  reached  save  by  a  concealed  approach. 
He  hedges  himself  about  by  those  who  agree  with  him.  His 
opposition  becomes  set.  He  commits  himself  to  a  certain 
line  of  convictions  and  champions  a  definite  course  of  action. 
He  places  himself  in  a  position  where  he  cannot  go  back  on 
his  own  expressed  views  without  stultifying  his  intellect.  He 
pursues  his  opposition  until  he  must  see  it  through  or  dis¬ 
credit  himself.  He  displays  the  control  of  an  obsession.  He 
cannot  be  reasoned  with,  while  appeals  fail  to  reach  him. 
He  is  set  in  his  course  of  opposition  to  such  an  extent  that 
those  who  disagree  with  him  are  met  with  violence.  He 
breathes  out  cruelty  and  threatenings  against  them.  For  the 
opposition  to  reach  and  win  him  to  its  side  requires  expert 
wisdom  and  a  concealed  method  of  approach  that  the  most 
crafty  cannot  even  suspicion.  It  cannot  be  personal  influ¬ 
ence,  it  cannot  be  argument,  it  cannot  even  be  dissension ; 
it  cannot  be  accomplished  in  a  moment  of  time;  it  is  beyond 
the  thought  of  instantaneousness  as  far  as  human  knowledge 
can  discern.  It  must  be  an  approach  concealed  by  the  unseen 
working  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who,  independent  of  human  per¬ 
sonality  and  not  subject  in  his  operations  to  the  limitations 
of  time  or  space,  works  conviction  in  the  minds  that  oppose 
Christ,  and  afterward  brings  them  to  surrender  to  his  claims. 
It  is  a  matter  of  faith,  established  by  many  experiences  en¬ 
joyed  by  those  who  have  had  wide  evangelistic  opportunities, 
that  men  in  whom  the  most  violent  opposition  to  the  gospel 
message  has  developed,  frequently  become  the  most  en¬ 
thusiastic  converts.  The  mystery  of  their  conversion 
parallels  that  of  Saint  Paul  and  witnesses  to  the  unseen  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  reducing  the  opposition  of  the  violent 
and  bringing  him  in  submission  to  do  the  will  of  Christ. 


no 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


Elemental  Evangelism 

This  brings  us  to  the  statement  of  the  elemental  fact  of 
the  evangelism  of  Jesus.  This  can  be  given  only  by  a  two¬ 
fold  statement.  It  must  be  a  distinct  fact  that  distinguishes 
his  work  from  all  other  religious  leaders,  and  also  from  the 
growth  of  the  natural  spiritual  instincts  common  to  men. 
What  is  that  elemental  fact?  It  is  the  release  in  a  man  of 
a  spiritual  power  that  checks  his  moral  course,  releases  the 
control  of  evil  habits,  and  propensities  that  have  imbedded 
themselves  in  his  physical  constitution,  establishes  a  reaction 
against  them  that  discredits  their  rule  over  his  will,  and 
sickens  the  soul  with  thoughts  of  them,  working  a  radical 
moral  change  called  spiritual  regeneration.  How  does  it 
operate?  By  producing  repentance,  that  is  regret,  self-con¬ 
demnation,  inward  self-denunciation ;  by  producing  a  de¬ 
sire  to  confess  sins  that  burden  the  mind,  by  numerous 
symptoms  of  soul-sickness  in  which  mental  perplexity  and 
depression  weakens  the  established  course  of  action,  causing 
the  spirit  of  hardness  to  give  way  to  that  of  forgiveness, 
that  of  selfishness  to  love  of  others,  working  a  universal 
transformation  of  the  man.  However,  with  this  process, 
which  is  always  wrought  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  there  ap¬ 
pears  a  sense  of  gratitude  to  and  love  for  him  that  is  strangely 
unique.  It  manifests  itself  as  an  intense  personal  apprehen¬ 
sion  of  Christ  as  Master,  Redeemer,  and  Lord.  In  the  sphere 
of  the  spiritual  emotions  the  apprehension  of  Christ  becomes 
so  persistent  and  absorbing  that  the  dominant  element  of  the 
life  becomes  an  impulse  to  work  the  actual  identification  of 
the  will  with  that  of  Christ;  and  to  gain  a  union  with  him 
that  will  be  so  real  as  to  result  in  the  reincarnation  of  his 
life  in  the  believer’s  heart.  No  other  religion  is  builded  upon 
this  spiritual  relation  of  the  disciple  with  its  founder. 

Furthermore,  the  elemental  fact  that  distinguishes  Christ’s 
evangelism  from  that  of  the  apprehension  of  natural  spiritual 
instincts  in  the  course  of  their  development,  may  be  stated  as 
mysterious,  sometimes  crucial  and  frequently  crisal.  It  is 
mysterious  in  that  it  cannot  be  entirely  accounted  for  by  a 
survey  of  facts  within  the  man  himself.  It  is  crucial  because 
a  moment  appears  when  the  great  mysterious  fact  passes  into 
a  comprehensible  reality  It  is  crisal  because  the  moment  of 
transition  may  be  marked  by  a  crisis  that  not  only  changes 


FOR  THE  VIOLENT  SOUL 


hi 


the  heart,  but  lifts  the  man  out  of  the  old  life  into  the  new. 
Moreover,  it  proves  that  Christianity  is  not  a  religion  that 
comes  up  with  a  man,  but  one  that  comes  down  to  fill  the 
capacity  furnished  by  nature  for  its  reception. 

The  elemental  fact  of  the  evangelism  of  Jesus  is  found  with¬ 
in  the  realm  of  the  spirit.  It  manifests  itself  as  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  producing  conviction  for  sin,  and  a 
sense  of  alienation,  which  results  in  the  soul  throwing  itself 
by  faith  upon  Christ  as  a  proffered  Saviour,  who  with  power 
bestows  forgiveness  and  restores  into  actual  favor  with  God. 

The  Conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus 

The  conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  is  one  of  the  most 
spectacular  events  in  the  spiritual  history  of  man.  The 
spiritual  world  as  presented  by  the  Holy  Scriptures  cannot 
be  entered  by  any  man  of  thoughtful  mind  without  it  being 
sighted  as  one  of  the  most  outstanding  incidents  of  that 
realm.  Indeed,  it  reveals  a  remarkable  relation  with  another 
that  has  never  ceased  to  be  the  supreme  wonder  of  human 
thought.  Many  paths  have  been  struck  into  this  spiritual 
world  over  which  the  souls  of  men  pass  on  the  wings  of 
thought,  but  there  are  two  great  highways  that  have  never 
failed  to  attract  attention,  to  produce  speculation  and  to  invite 
men  to  enter.  One  is  the  road  to  Calvary,  the  other  the 
road  to  Damascus.  On  Calvary  Jesus  of  Nazareth  died, 
terminating  his  earthly  career.  On  the  way  to  Damascus 
Saul  of  Tarsus  died,  terminating  his  narrow  Jewish  life, 
and  rising,  became  Saint  Paul,  the  great  apostle  to  the  Gen¬ 
tiles.  Many  men  have  tried  to  explain  this  marvelous  and 
miraculous  conversion,  because  it  is  one  of  the  most  ir¬ 
reducible  experiences  in  the  spiritual  life.  Therefore  we 
approach  it  with  much  prayer  for  guidance,  that  we  may  dis¬ 
cover  its  evangelistic  content. 

In  Capturing  a  Violent  Soul  all  approaches — spiritual, 
moral,  intellectual,  and  physical — will  be  used,  with  a  con¬ 
cealed  purpose  to  ambush  and  demand  its  immediate  sur¬ 
render.  We  must  expect  to  find  this  to  be  true  in  a  study 
of  Saul  of  Tarsus.  He  went  forth  breathing  out  threatenings 
and  cruelty  against  the  new  faith.  He  was  an  individualist 
of  the  individuals.  He  made  his  work  of  persecution  a  per- 


1 12 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


sonal  matter.  He  did  not  use  the  word  “we”  representing 
his  party,  though  he  was  a  Pharisee  and  a  member  of  the 
Sanhedrin.  He  used  the  first  personal  pronoun  “I”  more 
than  any  other  writer  in  the  New  Testament.  In  his  defense 
before  King  Agrippa  he  stands  alone.  He  disclaims  having 
acted  in  the  name  of  any  body  of  men;  no  group,  no  organi¬ 
zation,  no  class  of  society  had  any  influence  over  him.  He 
was  not  under  orders  when  he  went  forth  to  persecute  the 
followers  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  though  under  authority. 
The  personal  pronoun  repeatedly  parades  in  his  sentences, 
“I  think  myself  happy,”  and  “I  shall  speak  for  myself,”  and 
“I  verily  thought  with  myself  that  I  ought  to  do  many  things 
contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.”  His  course 
was  always  that  of  one  who  assumed  authority  to  lead.  He 
did  not  act  for  others,  even  though  he  was  supported  in  his 
purpose  by  the  priests.  When  the  Spirit  of  Christ  approached 
him  it  was  not  necessary  to  disentangle  him  from  his  social 
or  religious  group.  He  stood  out  in  front.  If  there  was  a 
group,  he  commanded  it.  If  there  was  an  organization,  he 
was  its  spokesman.  His  opposition  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was 
a  personal  matter.  He  showed  a  personal  enmity  by  a  long 
course  of  plotting  and  persecutions.  He  had  voted  death  in 
the  Sanhedrin  (Acts  26.  9-11),  superintended  punishment 
in  the  synagogues,  and  forced  Christians  to  abjure  their  faith. 
He  persecuted  them  from  city  to  city.  He  prosecuted  his 
ill  will  with  a  feeling  that  he  was  giving  obedience  unto  God 
and  became  a  religious  fanatic. 

As  an  individualist  of  individuals  he  required  a  conversion 
that  would  distinguish  him  as  one  of  a  particular  class.  Only 
a  highly  differentiated  method  of  approach  could  reach  him. 
He  had  entered  upon  a  violent  course.  He  could  not  be 
caught  with  his  group  of  supporters.  He  would  escape  and 
form  another  band.  He  must  be  singled  out  of  the  group, 
made  a  center  of  approach  for  all  the  heavenly  forces  that 
play  upon  a  human  soul.  Physical  violence  must  be  met  by 
superior  spiritual  force.  Saul  of  Tarsus  could  not  be  con¬ 
verted  any  other  way. 

However,  let  it  be  remembered  that  Saul  was  an  upright 
man  in  moral  conduct.  He  was  not  a  physical  sinner.  His 
personal  life  was  not  marred  and  scarred  by  vice  and  evil 
habits.  He  was  a  religious  man  living  a  pure  personal  life. 
His  sins  were  all  on  the  side  of  disposition.  Beastly  passions 


FOR  THE  VIOLENT  SOUL 


113 


did  not  rage  within  him  as  far  as  we  know,  but  resentment, 
bitterness,  and  malice  came  finally  to  possess  him.  He  had  a 
religion  that  without  doubt  was  the  highest  expression  of  the 
spiritual  life  of  his  day.  It  expressed  itself  in  first  a  passion 
for  personal  righteousness,  second,  a  passion  for  observing 
the  law,  third,  a  passion  for  the  truth  of  Israel.  A  passion 
for  personal  righteousness  is  a  fundamental  of  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  religion.  When  the  fires  burn  low  it  becomes  the  seat 
of  hypocrisy,  and  the  individual  learns  how  to  win  the  re¬ 
wards  of  religion  while  escaping  its  burdens.  With  Saul 
there  was  that  primary  conviction  that  the  one  prize  that 
makes  life  worth  living  is  the  love  and  favor  of  God.  This 
conviction  grew  into  a  passionate  longing  as  he  advanced 
in  the  years  of  his  young  manhood,  and  he  no  doubt  asked 
his  teachers  how  the  prize  was  to  be  won.  The  unanimous 
answer  was,  By  keeping  the  law.  This  passion  was  fed  by 
the  promise  that  the  Messiah  would  come  to  a  nation  observ¬ 
ing  the  law;  and  it  was  claimed  that  if  even  one  man  kept  it 
perfectly  for  a  single  day,  the  Lord’s  Anointed  would  appear. 
Saul  was  religious,  devoted,  and  a  man  of  moral  passion. 
He  threw  the  entire  drive  of  his  nature  to  the  realization  of 
a  perfect  day  in  his  life.  It  became  a  consuming  passion  with 
him,  and  was  unconsciously  carried  in  that  state  of  mind 
where  intolerance  led  him  to  oppose  all  who  had  different 
ideas  from  those  he  cherished. 

However,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  at  the  beginning 
of  his  course  Saul  was  a  man  of  exemplary  character.  His 
was  a  noble  nature ;  his  was  a  tender  heart.  He  was  a  stu¬ 
dent  under  Gamaliel,  the  advocate  of  humanity  and  tolerance, 
who  had  counseled  the  Sanhedrin  to  leave  the  Christians 
alone.  He  must  have  been  greatly  influenced  by  that  large- 
hearted  man.  Surely,  he  was  too  young  to  have  hardened 
his  heart  to  the  appeal  of  pity  and  to  the  disagreeableness 
of  a  ghastly  work  of  persecution.  Surely,  that  was  not  con¬ 
genial  to  the  natural  temper  of  his  mind.  His  highly  strung 
religious  zeal  was  a  fertile  field  for  the  spirit  of  intolerance 
to  take  up  its  dwelling.  Something  happened — the  Word 
does  not  tell — that  made  out  of  him  a  violent  persecutor. 
We  may  infer  that  it  was  something  that  violated  his  sense 
of  right  and  regard  for  the  law  of  God.  Without  doubt  it 
was  the  claim  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  the  Anointed  of 
God,  the  Messiah  of  Israel.  To  him  that  claim  became  a 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


1 14 

travesty  on  his  religion  and  an  outrage  against  the  teaching 
of  the  prophets.  It  stirred  him  to  the  depths  of  his  being. 
When  he  discovered  that  the  new  doctrine  was  gaining  be¬ 
lievers  in  Jerusalem  and  other  cities,  all  the  fire  of  his  spirit 
broke  loose.  He  became  a  zealot  who  had  resolved  in  the 
name  of  God  to  exterminate  the  heresy  by  persecuting  even 
unto  death  those  who  were  preaching  it  and  those  who  had 
accepted  it.  He  entered  the  path  of  a  violent  soul  with  a 
sincere  purpose,  thinking  he  was  doing  the  will  of  God,  who 
could  not  permit  him  to  pursue  that  course  without  seeking 
at  an  early  moment  to  bring  him  to  disillusionment. 

Herein  We  Discover  the  Evangelism  of  the  Holy  Spirit 

as  he  concentrates  spiritual  force  to  apprehend  a  violent  soul. 
However,  the  culmination  is  with  a  revelation  of  Jesus  as 
the  Christ  and  the  acknowledgment  of  him  as  the  Lord  and 
Master  of  the  souls  of  men. 

The  avenues  of  approach  seem  to  have  been  ignored,  unless 
we  look  deeply  into  the  working  of  the  mind  of  Saul.  The 
spiritual  approach  seems  to  have  been  open,  for  he  was  under 
a  strong  spiritual  impulse.  But  the  highway  was  obsessed 
with  the  set  conviction  that  he  was  doing  the  will  of  God. 
The  intellectual  approach  seems  to  have  been  open,  for  he 
was  acting  under  a  strong  mental  impulse.  But  the  way  was 
preempted  by  prejudice  and  registered  resolves  of  highly 
colored  intolerance.  The  moral  approach  seems  to  have  been 
open,  for  he  was  acting  under  the  firm  conviction  that  he 
was  right ;  but  the  way  was  occupied  by  impulses  of  malice 
and  hatred.  The  physical  approach  seems  to  have  been  open, 
for  he  was  acting  under  the  animation  of  all  his  physical 
powers ;  but  the  way  was  marked  by  violence  and  the  air 
filled  with  cruel  threatenings.  What  method  of  approach 
could  possibly  be  used  in  gaining  this  soul  to  consider  fairly 
the  truth  of  Jesus  Christ? 

What,  then,  is  the  psychology  of  his  apprehension?  Is  it 
one  of  surprise  and  sudden  ambush?  Let  us  follow  his 
course.  He  is  on  his  way  to  Damascus  with  authority  from 
Jerusalem  to  arrest  the  followers  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  A 
cavalcade  of  horsemen  is  accompanying  him.  The  journey 
is  almost  completed.  He  has  had  ample  time  to  think  over 
the  course  he  will  pursue  when  arriving  in  the  city.  He  may 
also  have  had  many  thoughts  about  those  whom  he  had  per- 


FOR  THE  VIOLENT  SOUL 


ii5 

secuted.  Suddenly  at  midday  a  great  light  burst  upon  him  and 
he  falls  to  the  ground.  A  voice  speaks  to  him  saying,  “Saul, 
Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?  It  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick 
against  the  pricks.”  Saul,  conscious  of  what  he  is  doing, 
replies,  “Who  art  thou?”  The  unseen  one  answered,  “I  am 
Jesus  whom  thou  persecutest.”  Then  Saul,  overwhelmed, 
reduced,  broken  inwardly  and  humbled  outwardly,  answers 
in  pathetic  tones,  “Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?” 
That  was  the  voice  of  one  thoroughly  convinced,  and  the 
expression  of  a  soul  transformed  and  being  released  from 
former  driving  impulses,  asks  for  a  new  course,  for  a  new 
regime,  for  new  impulses,  for  a  new  life.  Jesus  whom  he  had 
persecuted  has  conquered  and  gives  to  his  submissive  captive 
a  new  commission,  “Rise,  and  stand  upon  thy  feet :  for  I 
have  appeared  unto  thee  for  this  purpose,  to  make  thee  a 
minister  and  a  witness  both  of  these  things  which  thou  hast 
seen,  and  of  those  things  in  the  which  I  shall  appear  unto 
thee.”  Saul  obeyed  a  further  injunction  to  go  to  the  city, 
to  the  home  of  one  Ananias,  who  would  restore  his  vision 
and  instruct  him  in  the  way.  He  assured  King  Agrippa  that 
he  was  not  disobedient  to  that  heavenly  vision,  and  later 
went  forth  with  zeal  and  wisdom  to  preach  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  to  be  known  among 
believers  as  Paul,  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles. 

To  us  he  becomes  the  first  great  example  of  the  working  of 
spiritual  forces  in  transforming  a  violently  antagonistic  soul 
into  one  of  enthusiasm  for  Christ.  He  is  the  first  demon¬ 
stration  of  the  full  expression  of  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  break  down  the  active  opposition  of  men’s  souls, 
producing  an  example  of  instantaneous  conversion.  He  is 
also  the  great  example  of  the  evangelism  of  Jesus  working 
independent  of  human  instrumentality,  conquering  resistance, 
subduing  violence,  and  capturing  a  sinister  and  brutal  per¬ 
secutor.  The  only  method  that  succeeds  in  a  case  of  this 
kind  is  spiritual,  which  closes  up  over  all  ways  of  approach 
until  the  soul  is  ambushed,  and  then  in  a  moment  of  time  is 
unhorsed  and  subdued  by  the  Divine  Spirit. 

The  evangelism  of  Jesus  for  the  violent  soul  accomplishes 
its  purpose  by  the  rapidly  closing  in  of  spiritual  forces,  in 
which  the  final  action  is  a  precipitous  capture.  A  little  deeper 
delving  into  all  the  lines  of  truth  that  must  be  considered 
reveals  three  necessary  inferences. 


n6 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


First.  There  must  have  been  a  previous  course  of  opera¬ 
tion,  though  we  are  unable  to  see  it,  for  an  ambush  does  not 
come  by  accident.  Plan  and  motive  always  require  a  thinker. 

Second.  A  persecutor  is  never  an  accident.  Fie  is  a  result. 
Saul  somewhere  along  his  course  had  lodged  within  him  the 
truth  of  Christ,  either  in  word  or  by  the  beautiful  life  of  those 
whom  he  had  persecuted.  Surely,  the  death  of  Stephen  had 
its  influence  upon  him.  It  started  the  inner  conflict  in  which 
he  sought  to  resist  any  accrediting  of  the  faith  and  witness 
of  the  followers  of  Jesus;  and  that  truth  pressed  in  upon  him 
the  struggle  against  its  claims  intensified,  assumed  an  ir¬ 
rational  fierceness,  until  it  became  outwardly  violent  against 
those  who  would  support  it. 

Third.  Truth  has  of  itself  no  power  to  capture  a  soul 
against  its  will.  It  was  the  impact  of  spirit  upon  spirit.  It 
was  the  exercise  of  that  higher  method  of  communicating 
truth  spoken  of  by  our  Lord  when  he  said  to  Peter,  “Blessed 
art  thou,  Simon  Barjona:  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  re¬ 
vealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.” 
That  is,  God  has  power  of  immediate  communication  with  the 
intuitions  of  man  by  which  he  may  impart  knowledge  and 
reveal  his  will.  An  impersonal  force  cannot  influence,  modify, 
or  transform  personality.  Hence,  the  demand  for  a  faith  in 
the  distinctive  office  and  personality  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Jesus 
realized  this,  and  frequently  during  the  closing  days  of  his 
earthly  career  instructed  his  disciples  on  the  work  of  the 
Comforter.  In  characterizing  his  duties,  he  said,  “He  will 
reprove  the  world  of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and  of  judg¬ 
ment;  of  sin  because  they  believe  not  on  me;  of  right¬ 
eousness,  because  I  go  to  my  Father,  and  ye  see  me  no  more ; 
of  judgment,  because  the  prince  of  this  world  is  judged.” 
If  a  serious-minded  man  makes  the  inquiry,  “Who  managed 
the  campaign  of  strategy  that  captured  the  soul  of  Saul  of 
Tarsus  and  transformed  him  into  an  enthusiastic  supporter 
and  champion  of  the  cause  of  Christ?”  what  other  answer 
is  there  but  this:  “He  was  caught  up  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord”? 

After  a  Careful  Consideration  of  this  highly  dramatic 
incident,  one  inevitable  question  thrusts  itself  upon  the  mind — 
What  influence  would  his  conversion  have  upon  his  teaching? 
A  violent  and  instantaneous  conversion  makes  a  great  im- 


FOR  THE  VIOLENT  SOUL 


ii  7 

pression  upon  the  mind.  Would  it  not  influence  his  doctrine 
of  Christian  salvation?  He  was  converted  as  a  man  in 
mature  years,  salvation  came  to  him  by  the  way  of  seemingly 
irresistible  grace,  it  produced  a  crisis  in  his  life,  and  made  a 
cataclysmic  change  in  him.  It  is  human  nature  to  establish 
this  as  a  fundamental,  and  call  all  to  experience  it.  But 
Nathanael  the  mystic,  and  Nicodemus  the  devout,  and  the 
woman  of  Samaria,  the  sinful,  and  Bartimaeus  the  blind,  did 
not  find  Christ  along  the  path  of  overpowering  conviction, 
that  wrought  a  moral  upheaval,  but  by  a  direct,  quiet  opening 
of  the  mind  to  the  apprehension  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  the 
Son  of  the  living  God,  and  a  strange  and  complete  capture 
of  the  heart  with  abounding  enthusiasm  for  him. 

In  the  light  of  these  various  experiences  it  appears  that 
there  are  two  classes  of  believers  to-day  who  bear  the  name 
and  responsibility  of  Christians.  The  first  is  composed  of 
those  who  come  quietly  into  the  realization  of  the  Christian 
faith.  They  may  have  been  reared  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord,  being  among  those  who  have  never 
gone  out  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  When  the  days  of 
adolescence  arrived  they  made  their  choice  to  follow  Christ 
and  surrendered  their  lives  to  him.  They  may  not  know 
the  time  and  the  place  where  they  were  converted.  They  base 
their  claim  to  salvation  on  the  assurance  that  they  love 
Christ,  pray  to  him,  and  in  his  name  approach  the  throne  of 
heavenly  grace,  and  have  no  future  of  joy  and  comfort 
apart  from  him.  This  is  becoming  a  very  distinct  class  to¬ 
day  in  the  churches.  It  grows  and  widens  its  influence  during 
a  period  when  adult  conversion  is  not  emphasized.  It  is  the 
Episcopal  method  of  increasing  the  number  of  believers. 
While  adult  conversion  may  be  believed  in,  it  is  not  depended 
upon  to  assure  the  survival  and  perpetuity  of  the  church. 
This  Christian  type  believes  in  and  enjoys  a  stately  ritualistic 
service,  encourages  religious  education,  and  trusts  in  con¬ 
firmation  and  Decision  Day  rather  than  conversion  by  a 
spiritual  crisis  as  the  initiation  into  the  Christian  life.  With 
this  class  the  mass  and  community  revival  is  not  in  favor ; 
salvation  is  not  wrought  so  much  by  repentance  and  contrition 
as  by  spiritual  taste,  moral  choice,  family  predilections  and 
Christian  training,  based  upon  a  knowledge  of  the  unfolding 
life.  The  second  class  is  composed  mostly  of  those  who  come 
into  a  religious  experience  in  mature  years,  who  have  had  a 


n8 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


spiritual  crisis  and  know  the  time  and  place  where  they  were 
converted.  They  register  a  period  in  their  lives  when  they 
were  away  from  God.  They  witness  to  a  sense  of  sin,  and  to 
an  experience  in  which  they  felt  they  were  lost  and  were 
greatly  distressed.  In  that  moment  they  threw  themselves  by 
faith  on  Christ  as  their  personal  Saviour,  and  in  a  moment  of 
time  found  peace  and  great  joy  in  the  witness  of  faith  that 
they  were  saved.  Many  of  this  class  were  converted  in  a  mass 
revival,  with  all  of  its  informality,  its  noise  and  appeal,  its 
democracy  and  power.  They  feel  that  religion  is  a  positive 
and  active  thing,  with  power  to  change  a  man’s  heart  and 
liberate  his  spirit.  They  care  little  for  ritual  and  stately 
forms.  They  want  emotion.  They  enjoy  noise  and  en¬ 
thusiasm.  Sin  is  a  real  thing  that  ruins  men.  Christ  is  a 
Saviour,  the  very  thought  of  whom  fills  their  breasts  with 
abounding  joy.  Salvation  to  them  is  not  a  matter  of  decision. 
It  is  a  matter  of  necessity.  It  is  not  an  act  of  intellectual 
perfection,  but  an  act  of  soul  by  which  all  its  powers  react 
and  revolt  against  the  dominance  of  sin  in  the  life.  To  this 
class  the  Christian  life  is  a  birth  in  a  moment  of  time  wrought 
not  by  generation  but  by  regeneration.  It  believes  in  re¬ 
vivals  and  expects  them.  It  believes  in  spiritual  crises, 
prays  for  conviction,  believes  in  the  cataclysmic  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  the  most  trustworthy  means  of  bringing  the 
soul  to  God.  These  two  classes  are  found  in  the  modern 
evangelical  denominations,  and  their  predominance  determines 
the  type  of  Christianity  possessed  by  each  local  church.  Some¬ 
times  these  two  classes  in  the  same  membership  become  a 
source  of  conflict,  but  when  properly  adjusted,  and  when  they 
understand  themselves,  they  form  a  balance  that  produces 
a  well-poised  and  effective  church. 

In  valuing  the  evangelism  of  Jesus,  the  emphasis  must  not 
be  laid  on  the  method,  but  the  goal.  Christ,  as  a  Saviour 
from  sin,  is  its  object.  Much  must  be  made  of  the  power 
and  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Christianity  is  a  supernatural 
religion.  It  possesses  that  inscrutable  power  to  impact  truth 
upon  the  mind,  increasing  its  pressure,  until  a  brain  storm 
is  produced,  and  the  entire  being  is  transformed.  The  ap¬ 
prehending  of  a  mature  man,  full  of  violence  against  Christ, 
and  converting  him  into  a  docile,  obedient  man,  asking  for 
something  to  do  for  the  cause  he  has  hated,  is  a  miracle 
wrought  only  by  influences  operative  in  the  realm  of  faith. 


FOR  THE  VIOLENT  SOUL 


1 19 


The  wrecking  of  a  man’s  life  in  its  maturity  by  breaking 
up  lifelong  habits  of  thought  and  morals,  and  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  new  endowments  of  motive  power  for  the  highest 
living,  is  wrought  by  supernatural  influences.  It  is  a  witness 
to  the  most  unique  force  of  the  Christian  religion,  which 
operates  through  the  functioning  of  the  third  Person  of  the 
Trinity — the  dynamic  of  God,  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Conclusion.  There  is  in  the  spiritual  world  a  great  out¬ 
standing  highway  to  God  that  cannot  be  overlooked.  It  is 
the  road  to  Damascus.  It  stands  in  contrast  with  that  of  the 
road  to  Calvary.  It  is  the  way  of  the  man  haggard  in  his 
opposition  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  It  betrays  itself  in  violence, 
and  ends  in  an  ambush  where  dethroned  and  broken  a  man 
is  thrown  upon  the  ground  and  conquered  by  the  light.  It 
represents  a  man  falling  into  the  truth  and  rising  in  the  light, 
a  self-deceived  man,  battling  against  himself  and  falling  into 
the  darkness  of  wrongdoing,  to  rise  a  just  man,  transfigured 
by  a  fall.  He  made  the  road  to  Damascus  an  inbreaking  of 
supernatural  light,  the  place  on  which  an  unseen  person  mas¬ 
tered  a  violent  soul  by  the  seizure  of  powers  that  refused 
to  register  themselves  for  human  inspection.  Henceforth 
men  will  seek  to  travel  that  road  in  search  of  God.  Men 
who  yearn  for  a  manifestation  of  divine  justice  to  their 
eyes,  fast  closing  by  the  cataracts  of  blind  consent ;  men 
searching  for  convictions  that  transform  the  soul ;  men  fol¬ 
lowing  the  great  adventure  after  the  allurement  of  virtue; 
men  drawn  forward  by  the  quest  of  the  unseen,  will  seek 
that  way,  thinking  that  it,  and  it  alone,  is  the  way  of  great 
minds,  toward  rest  and  self-realization.  It  is  the  route  from 
the  dead  past  to  an  ever-living  present.  It  leads  forward  and 
upward,  but  always  to  the  crash  and  the  flash  of  lightning, 
when  the  violent  soul  sinks  broken  in  its  opposition  to  cry 
out  “Who  art  thou,  Lord?”  and  to  pray  in  humble  confession, 
“What  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?” 


QUESTIONS  FOR  CLASS  STUDY 

1.  What  is  a  fanatical  type? 

2.  What  is  meant  by  a  concealed  approach? 

3.  What  is  elemental  evangelism? 

4.  What  is  the  elemental  fact  of  the  evangelism  of  Jesus? 


120 


THE  EVANGELISM  OF  JESUS 


5.  Give  a  characterization  of  the  road  to  Calvary  and  the 
road  to  Damascus. 

6.  What  led  Saul  to  become  a  violent  opposer  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth? 

7.  How  is  a  soul  ambushed  for  God? 

8.  How  can  violent  antagonism  be  turned  into  sympathy 
and  favor? 

9.  What  influence  did  this  violent  conversion  have  on  his 
conception  of  Jesus? 

10.  Name  and  characterize  the  three  types  of  Christian 
believers. 

11.  In  what  sense  is  Christianity  a  supernatural  religion? 

12.  What  explanation  is  there  for  an  adult  conversion  other 
than  that  of  divine  power? 

13.  What  is  the  goal  of  the  evangelism  of  Jesus? 

14.  Should  all  men  expect  to  have  a  spectacular  conversion 
like  that  of  Saul  of  Tarsus? 

15.  What  will  make  a  man  opposing  Jesus  a  center  of  the 
evangelistic  forces  of  the  Holy  Spirit? 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


The  Day  of  the  Cross. — W.  M.  Clow. 

The  Cross  in  Christian  Experience. — W.  M.  Clow. 

The  Work  of  Christ. — P.  T.  Forsythe. 

The  Mision  and  Ministration  of  the  Holy  Spirit. — A.  C. 
Downer. 

The  Indwelling  Spirit. — W.  T.  Davison. 

The  Christian  Faith. — Theodore  Herring  (Two  Volumes). 
Philosophy  of  Religion. — John  Caird. 

The  Biblical  Doctrine  of  Man. — John  Laidlaw. 

The  Training  of  the  Twelve. — A.  B.  Bruce. 

The  Sociological  Value  of  Christianity. — George  Chatter- 
ton-Hill. 

The  Fundamental  Ideas  of  Christianity. — John  Caird 
(Two  Volumes). 

A  System  of  Christian  Doctrine. — H.  C.  Sheldon. 

Lectures  on  Ephesians. — R.  W.  Dale. 

An  Outline  of  Christian  Theology. — W.  N.  Clark. 

The  Cruciality  of  the  Cross. — P.  T.  Forsythe. 

Christianity  and  Sin. — Robert  Mackintosh. 

The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Reconciliation. — James  Denney. 


0 


